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IRS Can Keep $409K Seized From Car Dealer

DALLAS (CN) - The IRS can keep more than $409,000 seized from a luxury car dealer accused of structuring cash deposits to duck reporting requirements, a federal judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade said the government "had reasonable belief to file forfeiture proceedings against the defendant property and finds proper notice/publication of the forfeiture action was made," according to a final judgment of forfeiture signed Monday.

Authorities accused Brigette Brown, owner of Carrollton-based International Motor Productions, of making several deposits below $10,000 to skirt IRS reporting requirements. They seized the money in December 2010.

Brown admitted to a local NBC affiliate that she had broken up larger cash payments to avoid IRS scrutiny. Cash deposits larger than $10,000 must be reported to the IRS under federal law.

"I didn't know there was anything wrong with it," she told NBC 5. "I run a very honest, legitimate business."

She denied structuring the deposits, however, saying "they were simply deposited as they were earned."

Brown told the station that she will miss the money, but is ready to move on. She said she hopes her case will be a lesson for other business owners who do not understand deposit reporting requirements.

"I've always been told you want to stay under the radar with the IRS," she told NBC 5. "I think everyone under the sun thinks that same thing."

In August, Brown was charged with one count of failure to file an IRS Form 8300, which reports cash payments of more than $10,000.

She faces up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, according to her plea agreement.

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