Pay day: tax cash hoard defense hidden inside the couch

Abstract

A defendant’s claim of cash on hand is commonly referred to as a cash hoard defense1. A typical cash hoard defense asserts that the defendant in earlier years received money from such sources as gifts from family members or friends, or an inheritance, which he or she then spent during the prosecution period2. George Kleinman’s trial hinged on a cash hoard. In U.S. v. Kleinman, the trial proceeded as to Count Two which charges that in 1950 Kleinman filed a false and fraudulent joint income tax return on behalf of himself and his wife for the calendar year 1949, wherein it was stated that their net income for that calendar year was $6,141.69, and that the amount of tax due thereon was $621.12, whereas the defendant knew that their net income for that calendar year was $20,225.46, upon which there was owing to the United States an income tax of $3,955.783.