Date: Feature Week of May 18, 2003
Topic: Black Press Business/Economic
Author: William Reed
Article ID: article_ema051803a

ALL THAT GLITTERS AIN�T REPARATIONS GOAL

Guidelines On Getting Paid?

�It is part of the cure to wish to be cured� - Seneca

Have you heard the one about the Virginia lady who received an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) check for $507,490.91 on her tax return for �reparations�?

�That was a bogus claim.  That can land you in jail,� says Dr. Robert L. Brock, who filed a petition with the United Nations in 1965 for a $500,000 reparations payout �to every descendant of slaves� in America.  �There is no provision in the tax law that allows African-Americans to get tax credits or refunds related to slavery reparations. That claim was illegal because the IRS cannot pay for reparations.  The proper way is to file a legal claim against the U.S. government is in international court,� says Brock.

The Virginia case involves a father to help his daughter receive the largest refund paid to all IRS filers in 2001.  The father, a tax preparer, filed his daughter�s return based on the premise that she suffered harm based on slavery and its aftermath.  The father was charged with four counts, the daughter one, of making fraudulent demands against the government.  Both are accused of conspiracy to defraud the government. 

IRS criminal investigations say the case involves bogus allegations on �multiple individual income-tax returns.�  The daughter reported income of $3,429 in 2000, but claimed on her tax return that she had overpaid taxes by $500,000 on capital gains.  Her father had prepared her tax return and sought a similar $500,000 refund on his own.  Initially, the IRS approved the daughter�s refund.   She received the refund after answering an IRS letter requesting the identity of her investment firm, to which she responded saying it, was the �U.S. Department of Treasury - Black Capital Investments�.  The refund check was issued, but within three months IRS lawyers filed a civil lawsuit to get the money returned.

The IRS �Dirty Dozen� list has slavery reparations, as a tax scam taxpayers should avoid. Representatives say that in 2001 nearly 80,000 returns claimed �slavery reparations� refunds.  Treasury Department investigations reveal that the IRS mistakenly paid out more than $30 million to filers seeking such tax credits in 2000 and 2001.  IRS investigators say tax preparers running such reparations tax scams charge $50 - $70 to file the invented claims that generally sought $40,000 to $80,000.

Dr. Brock, who also charges $50 to file a reparations claim, says he�s been involved in this practice for over 30 years, but not income tax forms.  He says, �to get paid for the 40 acres and a mule your fore parents never received, you must file a claim�.  Claims Brock files have nothing to do with the IRS.  The claim form comes from Brock�s Committee for Self Determination.  Claimant fills out the form, have it notarized; then, they send it to Brock, along with $50.  He files the claim with the U.S. Government and with the International Court in Brussels.  He says he sends a certified copy for claimants� records.

To date, no slavery reparations payouts have been recorded by the U.N., but Brock contends court action is still pending and plaintiffs on record when the ruling comes will be paid amounts adjudicated.

Ten urban cities - including Washington, Detroit, and Chicago - support a federal "impact statement" on slavery.  Many people have made reparations claim through Brock, but he says this irks government sleuths who want him to cease and desist.  He says that since �exposes� of his reparations meetings on �20/20,� �60 Minutes,� local ABC television stations; and the Boston Globe and Washington Post newspapers, claimants have been reporting to him that government agents are contacting them to alert them that Brock�s programs are �suspect� and they should be cautious about interacting with him on this subject.  The 80-year-old reparations scholar has never been charged with a crime, but suspects that government operatives open his mail to compensation seekers and search for ways to stop their claims.

Brock says: �Currently, there�s no law allowing the U.S. government, or IRS, to pay slavery reparations or refunds.  After the Civil War, Congress passed a bill to allow reparations in the form of 40 acres and a mule, but that was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson and never enacted into law.  Until this oversight is acknowledged, claims have to be filed in International Court.�  (www.DirectBlackAction.com)

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