A San Diego man has been found guilty of using the identities of dead children and fake churches to avoid paying taxes.
On Monday, a jury convicted Lloyd Irving Taylor, 71, on 19 counts, including aggravated identity theft, tax evasion, lying to a financial institution, lying on U.S. passport applications and trying to impair the IRS.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Taylor stole identities for several people – including children who died in the 1950s – to apply for passports. He used the stolen identities to open bank accounts in order to hide money from the IRS.
The U.S. Attorney said Taylor also created more than a dozen fake religious organizations to be exempt from taxes.
Taylor also bought gold and other commodities to avoid taxation. Prosecutors said authorities confiscated $1.8 million in gold from Taylor before he was charged.
Taylor has been in custody since he was arraigned in April 2013.
