Tax Preparer Indicted On Fraud Case
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A northwest Iowa tax preparer indicted in a fraud case has been ordered to pay more than $61,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue
Service.
Federal prosecutors say 56-year-old Toui Lo, of Storm Lake, was sentenced Tuesday in Sioux City. She was given four years of probation and fined $3,000, in addition to the restitution. She’d pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting the preparation and filing of a false and fraudulent tax return.
Lo said in her plea agreement that she prepared and filed a false tax return on behalf of a client, fraudulently increasing the amount of the client’s refund by falsely claiming business expenses and various itemized deductions.
Lo also admitted filing several other false tax returns between 2009 and 2013.
Former Sioux City Councilman Accused Of Breaking Environmental Laws
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Regulators are seeking tough penalties against a former Sioux City councilman and his electronics recycling company, accusing them of repeatedly violating environmental law.
Iowa Natural Resources Department documents say Recycletronics owner Aaron Rochester has wrongfully stored lead-containing glass cathode ray tubes at a Sioux City facility and illegally stored or disposed of the material at five
more locations. The department says Rochester hasn’t paid more than $75,000 owed on a state loan used to buy equipment.
The department is asking permission from the state Environmental Protection Commission to turn the case over to the state attorney general’s office, which can seek higher penalties than the department.
Rochester says he’s been working with the department to close
Recycletronics.
The department also says federal regulators have inspected Recycletronics sites in Nebraska.
Convenience Store Worker Accused Of Stealing Lottery Scratch Tickets.
FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have accused a Fort Dodge man of stealing more than $20,000 in lottery scratch tickets while working at a convenience store.
The Iowa Public Safety Department said Wednesday in a news release that Christopher Breyfogle was arrested Monday and has been charged with two counts of theft and one of lottery forgery or theft.
Court records say he’s been released. His attorney declined to comment to The Associated Press.
The department says an Iowa Lottery employee saw Breyfogle scanning and redeeming scratch tickets at another retail location in Fort Dodge. The lottery contacted the convenience store where Breyfogle worked, and it was determined
that tickets were missing from the store’s inventory.
The department also says Breyfogle claimed more than $11,000 in prizes at other locations in central Iowa.
Gerdin Family Donates Money To University of Iowa
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – University of Iowa officials say the Gerdin family has committed $5 million for renovations and new programming at the athletic learning center that bears the family name.
The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that center will be getting more study rooms, a commons area and a cafe. The programming will include a life skills and leadership development program.
Work on the center is expected to be finished by spring 2018.
Ann Gerdin and her late husband, Russell, started giving to the university in 1980. They founded the transportation company Heartland Express. The next Gerdin generation has continued the philanthropy.
—
Farmer Dies From Skid Loader Accident
FARRAGUT, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a man has died after the skid loader he was operating overturned in southwest Iowa.
Deputies and medics were dispatched around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday to the accident, about 2 1/2 miles (4 kilometers) north of Farragut. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office says 56-year-old Timothy Shirley was using the machine to remove trees from a ditch when it overturned and came to rest with the cab
facing down.
Shirley was pronounced dead at the scene. He lived in Thurman. An autopsy has been ordered to determine the exact cause of his death.
