A long-shot Republican presidential candidate, John Anthony Castro, who has been challenging former President Trump’s eligibility to run for re-election, was arrested on federal tax fraud charges. The arrest comes just a day after a federal judge in Nevada dismissed one of Castro’s lawsuits seeking to bar Trump from running. Castro, 40, of Mansfield, Texas, was indicted on 33 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of a false and fraudulent tax return. Prosecutors allege that Castro engaged in a pattern of creating and submitting false tax returns on behalf of unsuspecting taxpayers through his tax preparation business, resulting in hundreds of thousands of improperly paid claims.
Castro’s arrest was announced by U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Leigha Simonton, who stated that “Mr. Castro’s alleged crimes are stunning in their brazenness.” The indictment was filed under seal on January 3 and was unsealed following Castro’s arrest. It is worth noting that Simonton was nominated by President Biden.
Castro, in an interview with The New York Times, claimed that the indictment was politically motivated and an attempt to disrupt his lawsuits challenging Trump’s eligibility. He also mentioned that his firm had settled the tax return matter with the IRS in 2021 and accused certain clients of misinterpreting tax law.
The indictment came after U.S. District Court Judge Gloria M. Navarro of Nevada dismissed Castro’s lawsuit, ruling that he lacked standing and failed to demonstrate any concrete injury due to Trump’s conduct. Judge Navarro emphasized that Castro and Trump were not even competing on the same ballot in Nevada. Castro had argued that the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution barred Trump from holding office over his alleged incitement of the 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
According to the indictment, Castro owned and operated a virtual tax preparation business called Castro & Company LLC. Prosecutors allege that Castro devised a scheme to create and submit false tax returns on behalf of taxpayers, promising significantly higher refunds by generating false deductions without the taxpayer’s knowledge.
If convicted on all counts, Castro could face up to 99 years in federal prison. The Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation.
While Castro’s legal efforts to ban Trump from the ballot have been unsuccessful so far, numerous other lawsuits are challenging Trump’s eligibility. The Colorado Supreme Court, citing the 14th Amendment, recently removed Trump from the ballot in their state, and the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Trump’s challenge to that ruling in February.
It is important to note that this article does not reflect the opinions or biases of the news outlet and is based on the information available at the time of writing.
