Federal Appellate Court Affirms Dismissal Of Widow’s Action For Damages Against Trustees For Filing Fraudulent Information Return

Update: On October 1, 2013, in Vandenheede v.Vecchio,the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan’s judgment for the Defendants Vecchio and Borschke. Plaintiff Mary C. Vandenheede sued Defendants alleging tax fraud under 26 U.S.C. § 7434. The district court granted Defendants’ motion for summary judgment based on the fact that violations of 26 U.S.C. § 7434(a) fall on the “filer,” and not on every person involved in preparing the return. The Court upheld the district court’s judgment because the Plaintiff failed to provide particularized facts from which one could infer that the Defendants knowingly issued false returns to the IRS. Also, the Court stated that the Plaintiff failed to suggest a different or preferable way in which the Defendants should have categorized payments to her on the tax returns.

Read about the initial holding here.