Two men from the Rogue Valley, a couple from the Bend area and a self-styled "consumer advocate" from California face federal fraud and conspiracy charges linked to their attempts to pass about $4.3 million in false U.S. Treasury documents in Oregon.
A recently unsealed indictment claims the group used fake check-like documents drawn on nonexistent Treasury accounts to pay property taxes in Jackson and Coos counties, to pay federal income taxes, and in attempts to buy property, recreational vehicles and other goods and services.
The indictment, handed down by a federal grand jury in September 2005, was unsealed after the November arrests of Barton A. Buhtz, of Sunland, Calif.; Richard Roy Aquila, of Medford; Steven Dale Kelton, of Central Point; and Rebecca Adelle and Steven Douglas Shollenburg, who were arrested and arraigned in Prineville.
All five have appeared in U.S. District Court for arraignments in the past two weeks and are tentatively set to go to trial here in January, court documents in Medford show.
The indictment alleges that Buhtz gave promotional seminars in Oregon and elsewhere on fraudulent financial practices starting in August 2001, and the indicted Oregonians and others followed his advice to commit fraud.
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Buhtz's Web site, www.suijuris.net, is no longer active, but searching his name online leads to numerous sites with names such as freedomdomain.com and commonlawvenue.com that outline his advice.
One online newsletter advocating his work is that of Eddie Ray Kahn, the Florida man indicted in October along with actor Wesley Snipes on federal tax avoidance and fraud charges.
A Web site operated by the U.S. Treasury Department, www.treasurydirect.gov, also outlines the procedure Buhtz advocated — under a heading "Frauds, Phonies and Scams."
The Treasury Department explains that in the fairly widespread scheme, people claim that when the United States went off the gold standard in 1933, the federal government went bankrupt. With the help of the Federal Reserve Bank, the government then created value by trading citizens' birth certificates or applications for birth certificates on the open market.
The scammers claim that Social Security numbers are actually numbers of accounts where this value is stored, the Treasury site continues. After filing complicated documents under the Uniform Commercial Code, rules set out to smooth interstate commerce, the scammers falsely claimed that individuals can tap this "fund" by writing bills of exchange. Checks are the most common type of bill of exchange, but other types are used in international trade.
"Drawing such drafts on the U.S. Treasury is fraudulent and a violation of federal law," the Treasury site said. "The theory behind their use is bogus and incomprehensible. The Justice Department is vigorously prosecuting these crimes."
The U.S Attorney prosecuting Buhtz and the local alleged conspirators declined to comment on the case, which is still in the early stages.
Buhtz was unavailable for comment. His answering machine message in Sunland said he only takes calls on Wednesdays between 7:30 a.m. at 5 p.m. and receives faxes between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m. on weekdays, but prefers to communicate by mail. The others either couldn't be reached or declined to comment.
Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485 or at aburke@mailtribune.com
