Defendant’s bail revoked
for court anticsVivian Soong is accused of
preparing fraudulent tax returns
A local tax return preparer who pleaded guilty last year to six felony counts of aiding in the preparation of fraudulent state income tax returns is in legal trouble again.
Vivian Soong, 58, was indicted Aug. 5 for allegedly helping clients evade state tax obligations. She was also charged with first-degree theft for obtaining more than $20,000 in alleged fraudulent tax refunds for her clients.
Circuit Judge Michael Town revoked Soong's $50,000 bail Thursday when she refused to acknowledge her identity in court and refused to answer questions posed by the court. Town said Soong could be released again if she posts a new cash bail of $25,000.
Deputy Attorney General Ricky Damerville said he believed Soong acted on the advice of someone who is encouraging criminal defendants to obstruct court proceedings.
There are a number of such individuals who aren't licensed attorneys who are engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, Damerville said.
"There's some people out there that are coming into court, they're using the same script," Damerville said. "They're getting advised or brainwashed or whatever you want to call it by other individuals. And I need the public's assistance to find out who it is. And when I do, I'm going to prosecute them."
Damerville said the same people giving out the advice are also encouraging defendants to pepper the court and public officials with nonsensical documents and threatening court officers and public officials with liens unless they dismiss pending criminal charges.
Engaging in the unauthorized practice of law is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail for each offense.
In May 2002, Town fined Soong $30,000, placed her on five years probation, ordered her to pay all delinquent taxes and sentenced her to serve 150 hours of community service.
One of the charges Soong admitted to last year was helping to prepare a return that claimed the foreign earned income tax exclusion on the premise that Hawaii isn't a state.
Soong worked for RB Tax Service, owned by Richard Basuel. Basuel was convicted in 2001 of filing tax returns claiming Hawaii as a foreign country, overstating itemized deductions for clients and failing to file his own excise tax returns.
