Bixby man allowed to await further developments on tax case

[clevfan]

Bixby man allowed to await further developments on tax case

By DAVID HARPER Tulsa World Staff Writer
Published: 3/4/2010 3:31 PM

A federal magistrate on Thursday decided that a former Bixby resident should be allowed to await further developments in his tax case while on bond, even though the man spent more than three years in Costa Rica after a search warrant was executed at his house.

David Michael Nigh, 41, was charged under seal in Tulsa on April 8, 2008 with five counts of filing false federal returns for the 2001 through 2005 income tax years.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Trent Shores said shortly after the hearing Thursday that U.S. Magistrate Frank McCarthy’s decision will be appealed by the prosecution. That means Nigh will remain in custody at least until U.S. District Judge James Payne can review the issue.

Internal Revenue Service Special Agent Jason White testified Thursday that in December 2005 he started investigating Nigh after allegations surfaced that Nigh was involved in a bookmaking business.

White testified that a search warrant was executed at Nigh’s then-residence in Bixby in May 2006. He said Nigh was told then that agents were looking into whether Nigh was involved in bookmaking or had filed false tax returns.

Testimony during Thursday’s hearing suggested that Nigh decided to head for Costa Rica in December 2006 due to the investigation .

Nigh’s attorney, Martin Hart, told the court that his client made a “bad decision” to go to Costa Rica.

According to testimony Thursday, Nigh divorced his wife and remarried while in Costa Rica, had his two juvenile daughters visit him there more than once and had his elderly father move to the country to live with him.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Leitch told the court that getting a suspect extradited from Costa Rica is difficult and becomes even harder when they have married a Costa Rican resident.

Shores said Nigh was arrested Feb. 12 in Cancun, Mexico, where Nigh had gone on vacation. Nigh appeared in federal court in Houston on Feb. 16, records show.

McCarthy announced that he believed conditions could be crafted which would ensure Nigh would show up for future court dates in Tulsa.

The magistrate said he was “particularly impressed” by testimony from two ex-wives of Nigh as well as a brother of the defendant who all said Nigh was ready to face the charges.

Hart said during the hearing that Nigh intends to plead guilty once the amount of tax loss can be determined. He said some prison time appears likely.

The bond conditions McCarthy outlined include electronic monitoring, frequent visits with probation officers and strict monitoring of Nigh’s finances. Hart surrendered Nigh’s passport to the court Thursday.

The indictment says that Nigh’s actual income ranged from $59,803 to $246,952 in the years in the charges. Evidence introduced during Thursday’s hearing suggested the Bixby house he lived in was valued between $600,000 and $800,000.

White testified that Nigh had about $250,000 wired to him while he lived in Costa Rica. Before that, White testified Nigh was making about $30,000 a month through a combination of “casino hosting” and an automobile business.

There are claims circulating on the internet that Nigh has been connected to an on-line sports betting operation which according to its Web site “operates legally in the beautiful country of Costa Rica.”

There was no testimony specifically about that during Thursday’s hearing and neither Hart, Leitch or Shores cared to discuss the topic outside the courtroom.


Tulsa World: Bixby man allowed to await further developments on tax case

[clevfan]

Judge determines Bixby man is a flight risk in tax case

By DAVID HARPER
Tulsa World Staff Writer
Published: 3/9/2010 12:36 PM

A federal judge on Tuesday decided that a man who spent more than three years in Costa Rica after a search warrant was served at his Bixby home will await further developments in his criminal tax case in jail.

U.S. District Judge James Payne found there is a “serious risk” that David Michael Nigh would flee if released from custody. The judge further found the weight of the evidence is strong against Nigh, who was charged in Tulsa on April 8, 2008, with five counts of filing false federal returns for the 2001 through 2005 income tax years.

Payne’s decision reversed that of U.S. Magistrate Frank McCarthy, who set bond conditions at the conclusion of a hearing last Thursday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Leitch appealed McCarthy’s ruling in the aftermath of the court session before Nigh could actually be released from jail.

Leitch said at a hearing before Payne on Monday that the prosecution had a “real concern” that if Nigh was released from jail he would return to Costa Rica, where he would essentially be out of reach of U.S. authorities.

Payne’s Tuesday order says that in April 2005 the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tulsa received a tip which alleged that Nigh was running a “bookie” operation. That led to the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division initiating an investigation into Nigh’s purported bookmaking activities later that year, according to the order.

The judge wrote that a search warrant was executed at Nigh’s home in Bixby in May 2006. In December 2006 “Nigh fled the United States for Costa Rica in an attempt to avoid the criminal investigation of which he was the target,” Payne wrote.

According to testimony introduced Thursday, Nigh divorced his wife and married a Costa Rican citizen while in that country, had his two juvenile daughters visit him there more than once and had his elderly father live with him there.

Claims have circulated on the Internet that Nigh has been connected to an online sports-betting operation that, according to its Web site, “operates legally in the beautiful country of Costa Rica.” However, nothing was said during either Tulsa hearing about that and neither the prosecution or defense have cared to elaborate on that topic.

Nigh was arrested last month in Cancun, Mexico, where he had gone on vacation.

Nigh’s attorney, Martin Hart, noted during the Monday hearing that the April 2008 indictment against his client was filed under seal, which Hart said effectively “deprived” Nigh of the option to voluntarily surrender to face the charges.

Hart also said his client did not assume a false identity while in Costa Rica and was using his own passport — which has since been surrendered — when arrested in Mexico.

Still, Payne pointed out in his order that Nigh told one of his ex-wives “he could not come back to the United States because of tax reasons and that he might go to jail if he did return.”

Nigh faces as much as three years in prison if convicted of the charges, which reportedly involve about $88,000 in unreported income.

Hart said during Monday’s hearing that Nigh “anticipates” pleading guilty to the charges.

The bond conditions McCarthy outlined last Thursday would have included provisions such as electronic monitoring, frequent visits with probation officers and strict monitoring of Nigh’s finances.

[mesquite]

David Nigh, I believe is a product of an over zealous prosecutor who had a personal agenda of persecution. He tried to settle any debt that may have been owed, but that was not good enough. Interesting that they pay Joran van der sloot and let him go so he can kill again, but zealously persue someone as benign as David Nigh.

[clevfan]

Ex-Bixby man sentenced in tax case

By DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer
Published: 7/29/2010 2:26 AM
Last Modified: 7/29/2010 5:24 AM

A former Bixby resident who spent more than three years in Costa Rica after learning that the Internal Revenue Service was investigating him was sentenced Wednesday to one year and three months in prison for under-reporting his income on a federal tax return.

David Michael Nigh also was ordered by U.S. District Judge James Payne to pay $54,915.33 in restitution to the IRS.

Nigh, 41, was arrested in February in Cancun, Mexico, where he had gone on vacation, court records state. He had fled to Costa Rica in December 2006 in an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution.

He was charged in Tulsa on April 8, 2008, with five counts of filing false federal returns for the 2001 through 2005 tax years. That indictment was handed up under seal, and Nigh claimed Wednesday that he didn't know of the charges until he was arrested.

Nigh pleaded guilty to one of those counts on March 17, admitting that on his 2005 income tax return he reported income of $113,745 when the actual amount was more than twice that.

He apologized to the court and to his family Wednesday for his "childish behavior" and expressed regret for the "immature attitude" he had about paying taxes.

Payne said during the hearing that Nigh had derived part of his income in the past from an illegal bookmaking business.

He ordered that Nigh undergo gambling addiction counseling, refrain from gambling and stay out of gambling establishments during his year of court supervision after he is released from prison.

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