GOP megadonor's lawyers say he can't stand trial for $2 billion tax fraud because COVID accelerated his dementia
On Wednesday, The Daily Beast reported that lawyers representing Robert Brockman, the billionaire software tycoon accused of masterminding the largest tax fraud scheme in the history of the United States, is not competent to stand trial — because COVID-19 has worsened his dementia.
In 2017, Brockman was a massive donor to the Republican Party, contributing $80,000 to the House Republican campaign arm.
"Brockman, 80, has Parkinson’s disease, which his lawyers cited as a probable source of his dementia. His mental state grew worse, the filing said, after he contracted the coronavirus in December and was subsequently hospitalized in part with toxic metabolic encephalopathy, a 'condition of acute global cognitive dysfunction' associated with COVID-19 'among older patients with preexisting dementia,'" reported Noah Kirsch. "The judge presiding over the case, George C. Hanks, previously heard arguments in November about Brockman’s competency but has yet to rule on the matter."
Attorneys first raised the possibility of Brockman's incompetence last November, citing Alzheimer's symptoms.
"The billionaire was indicted in 2020 on 39 counts, including wire fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering, over allegations that he participated in 'a scheme to conceal approximately $2 billion in income from the IRS as well as a scheme to defraud investors' in his software company, the Department of Justice said at the time," said the report. "The indictment claimed that Brockman utilized a labyrinth of offshore entities in Bermuda and Nevis and sent 'untaxed capital gains income to secret bank accounts in Bermuda and Switzerland.'"
Brockman's legal team is separately fighting the IRS, with the report noting that they "complained in court filings about the agency’s tactics, including emptying one of his wife’s bank accounts, automatically sequestering his retirement pay, and placing liens on his properties."
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