What is Roger Stone's net worth? Inside Trump ally's fortune and real estate amid $2 million unpaid tax row
The justice department on Friday, April 16, sued Roger Stone, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, saying he and his wife Nydia Bertran owe nearly $2M in unpaid federal income taxes. According to the lawsuit, the duo used an “alter ego” company to “shield their personal income from enforced collection and fund a lavish lifestyle despite owing nearly $2 million in unpaid taxes, interest and penalties”. The complaint also alleges that Stone and his wife “intended to defraud the United States” through a fraudulent money transfer that was used to buy their residence.
The justice department complaint, which is filed in southern Florida federal court, alleges the Stones underpaid their federal income taxes between 2007 and 2011. The couple owes $1,590,361.89, including interest and late-payment penalties, according to the complaint.
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Roger Stone and wife used LLC called Drake Ventures
The complaint also alleges that Stone and Nydia “evaded and frustrated the IRS’s collection efforts” by using a Delaware limited liability company called Drake Ventures. The company is “dominated and controlled” by the family “to such an extent that it does not exist as an independent entity,” the justice department said, according to a CNBC report.
Drake Ventures has no website or phone number, the CNBC report added citing the complaint, and all its members are part of Stone’s family and its address is identical to the family’s home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
DOJ filed a lawsuit today against ex-Trump adviser Roger Stone saying he owes nearly $2 million in unpaid taxes and penalties and that he and his wife used an LLC to "shield their personal income from enforced collection and fund a lavish lifestyle." pic.twitter.com/HrGXciIMcV
— Brad Heath (@bradheath) April 16, 2021
“The Stones used Drake Ventures’ bank accounts to pay a substantial amount of their personal expenses, including groceries, dentist bills, spas, salons, clothing and restaurant expenses,” the complaint said. The duo also paid over $500,000 of their personal tax liabilities through the company’s bank accounts in 2018 and 2019 and they used it to pay Stone’s associates and relatives without the right paperwork, the justice department alleged.
Stone, 68, has worked for campaigns of various top Republican politicians, including Trump, and was pardoned by the latter last December after being convicted of lying to the legislature.
The political strategist and lobbyist is known to be a colorful individual with a high-end wardrobe and tattoo of former president Richard Nixon on his back. He had advised Trump when the businessman-politician was considering running for the presidency in 2000 and also briefly worked with him in 2016 when he entered the race and won it. He was indicted by Robert Mueller, the former special counsel who investigated Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Later, a federal jury in Washington convicted Stone of lying to Congress, obstructing justice and tampering with witnesses. He was arrested in January 2019 but Trump pardoned him last year.
Stone's big fall from being a multimillionaire
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Stone, who has also penned books, has a net worth of $50,000. The controversial man, who has worked with big GOP names such as Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, George W Bush and others, had reportedly earned $1 million a year during his peak consulting career in the 1980s and 1990s but in the many interviews that he gave following his arrest, Stone claimed to be broke. During a hearing over a controversial Instagram post in February 2019, Stone, once a multimillionaire, told a judge that his “business has dried up” since his arrest and he’s “exhausted his savings”. He even claimed he was finding it difficult to get food and pay his rent. He reportedly tried to raise $2M by starting a legal defense account via crowdfunding to meet the legal defense costs.