Arkansas private banking system barred for defrauding the U.S.
April 16th, 2010 - 12:28 am ICT by BNO NewsLITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS (BNO NEWS) – An Arkansas private banking system bank was barred from operating for helping customers avoid taxes, prosecutors said Thursday.
Wayne Hicks, who owned and operated My Icis Inc., a private banking system in Berryville, Arkansas, helped customers set up purportedly anonymous bank accounts to hide their identities, income and other financial transactions, including deposits, wire transfers and bill payments in order to avoid taxes from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). From 2003 through 2006, Hicks’ customers deposited approximately $100 million in his banking system
Hicks admitted that My Icis helped customers “get out of the traditional banking system and successfully shield their financial transactions from the government, more specifically the IRS, and thereby avoid paying federal income taxes.”
Hicks promoted his scheme through Web sites, online newsletters, and seminars such as the Pinnacle Quest International (PQI) seminars held in the Mexican resorts of Cancun and Ixtapa in 2005.
On March 31, 2010, eight people associated with PQI were convicted of tax, wire fraud and money laundering charges by a federal jury following a month-long trial in Pensacola, Florida. The United States also obtained a civil injunction against PQI and its principals on May 16, 2008.
In addition to the barring of My Icis Inc., Hicks is serving a five-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States.
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