American Tax Officer-Chapter 628 - 316: The Verdict is as Follows_2

Chapter 628: Chapter 316: The Verdict is as Follows_2

In the gallery, Jeff and his colleagues were like souls lost, stunned in place until the sound of the witnesses emerging from the corridor snapped him back to reality. He immediately stood up and walked out of the courtroom.

“Your Honor,” I’m Armando Zoe, a merchant on the Amazon platform. I joined this platform in 2019, and a year later, my sales exceeded 5 million US Dollars. After that, people from the Amazon Group approached me, forcing me to sign a series of agreements. These agreements involved implicit charges to consumers. At the time I was unwilling, because I knew very well how serious it would be once consumers found out. But the Amazon Group was very domineering, and I ultimately had no choice but to sign.”

“Your Honor,” I’m Kirich, a merchant on the Amazon platform, and I too had to sign a series of agreements forthwith after reaching a certain sales volume with the Amazon Group…”

In the following time, these 123 merchant representatives took turns to testify, detailing the agreements they signed with the Amazon Group.

Of course, this also included the content concerning fraud involving hidden charges to consumers.

“Fake! Amazon Group, what excuse could you possibly have now?”

...

“123 merchants have testified in court, all accusing Amazon Group of collecting implicit charges. The crime is as good as confirmed!”

“Amazon Group, you will pay for your fraudulent actions!”

What David had said earlier seemed plausible, but without concrete evidence, it was merely hearsay.

Now that so many merchants had testified, the evidence was naturally more than sufficient, which is why consumers watching the livestream were also calling for a stern punishment for Amazon to vent their anger.

At the courtroom, after listening to the merchants’ testimonies, Nicola looked over a list of data and then turned her gaze toward the defendants, questioning, “Representatives of the defendant, to these merchants’ testimonies and the data list in my hands, do you have any rebuttals?”

Lakruwa and others were ashen-faced, none intending to speak, let alone rebut.

On the other side, reminded by Kepel, David gave Nicola a meaningful look and then stepped outside the courtroom door, taking a phone handed to him by Kepel and asking, “What is it, Deputy Director Donald.”

“The White House has called. They’re also watching this live trial and wish to avoid economic turmoil. Their stance is to not implicate Jeff, understood?”

David was not surprised to hear this.

After all, Jeff was the founder of Amazon, a four-time world’s richest man. His imprisonment would pose a risk of toppling Amazon without its core leader, potentially causing incalculable impact on the American economy.

However, David had no personal grudge against Jeff or Amazon. Since his superiors instructed him not to target Jeff, he would comply. It wasn’t a big deal.

“Alright, I understand, Deputy Director Donald.”

“Good, then wrap up the following proceedings as quickly as possible. We need to prepare for your arrival here,” Donald said.

At these latter words from Donald, David’s mood instantly surged with excitement.

Yes, the tax investigation against Amazon was nearing its final verdict. Once done, he would be ready to report to the IRS headquarters.

Was he finally going to have a place at the core of the IRS’s power?

After calming his emotions a bit, he returned to the courtroom, conversed briefly with Nicola down by the judge’s bench, and retreated back to his seat.

Nicola swept her gaze towards the gallery where the Amazon Group was seated and said, “Mr. Fermelon, Simonis, and Becker, would you please come forward to the front of the court.”

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The already pale trio turned noticeably paler upon hearing this; it was already the last stage of judgment. What did calling them to the stand imply?

Of course, it meant they had to shoulder all the blame!

But there was no helping it. One was the head of tax, another the financial director, and the other a deputy in charge of Amazon’s platform business.

With charges involving financial fraud, tax deception, and platform consumer fraud, these were their areas of responsibility, naturally, they had to take the fall.

As the three of them stepped up to the court, Nicola finally stood up and declared, “This court pronounces that Amazon is guilty of tax evasion, guilty of unlawfully claiming tax subsidies, and guilty of implicit tax violations. The sentence is as follows.”

“First, return all tax subsidies from 2017 to the present.”

“Second, pay a total of 9.836 billion US dollars in added value tax reductions from 2017 to the present.”

“Third, pay a total of 7.3 billion US dollars in implicit taxes.”

“Fourth, a fine of 8 billion US dollars, plus the tax amounts, summing up to a total payment of 25.136 billion US dollars to the Internal Revenue Service.”

“Fifth, consumers who paid the implicit fees will be compensated tenfold!”

“Sixth, Fermelon, Simonis, Becker, and Mr. Lakruwa, as Amazon Group’s finance director, tax director, chief legal counsel, and deputy director of platform operations, you bear the primary responsibility for these three charges.”

“You are now sentenced to 20 years in prison. Do you object?”

After the sentence was pronounced, the four named individuals felt mixed emotions.

They were, of course, saddened by the 20-year imprisonment.

But they were relieved, for according to the past practices of the Internal Revenue Service, once charges were proven, sentences could be extremely lengthy, thousands of years even. Now, it was only 20 years, and there was no mention of ineligibility for parole—which they considered a stroke of luck in an unfortunate situation.

Of course, Director David had originally intended to apply the same sentencing standards as those used for previous tax evaders. However, his plans had to be altered after a call from Deputy Director Donald a moment ago.

The matter had already escalated to the White House, and the White House had made it clear that they preferred the focus not to fall on Jeff, which indirectly told David to keep a low profile in his actions.

Thus, the 20-year sentence was also giving face to the White House, which they were expected to appreciate.

Back at the public gallery, Jeff had returned and, hearing the verdict, he felt a chill down his spine.

He had to be thankful for the relationships he had cultivated over the years and the size of his enterprise, which was now large enough to impact the economy. Otherwise, he might very well be the one standing trial.

“Such serious charges, and only 20 years of sentencing? And most importantly, as the big boss, Jeff hasn’t received any punishment at all, which is too bad…”

“Although Jeff wasn’t punished, the 200 billion in taxes plus fines will certainly hurt them. The key point is, they also have to compensate us consumers tenfold for the implicit fees we paid, which will surely bleed them dry, awesome!”

“We have to thank the Los Angeles IRS, the court, and Director David. Otherwise, we wouldn’t even dream of getting a tenfold compensation, let alone even knowing about these hidden fees, not to mention how long they would’ve kept shearing us like sheep!”

“…”

After the judgment was passed, some of the public felt regret because compared to previous tax evaders, the 20-year sentence was too light. Most importantly, Jeff, as the group’s leader, had not been punished at all.

Yet other members of the public were elated because they would receive a lump sum tenfold compensation for hidden fees, obviously grateful to the Tax Bureau and Director David.

“The defendants, you confirm there is no objection, right?”

Hearing Nicola’s questioning once more, the representatives of the Amazon Group looked at each other but, in the end, no one spoke up. It seemed they tacitly accepted the result.

And in fact, they had no choice but to accept.

After all, the implicit tax issue had been exposed, and the best PR strategy for them was to accept the punishment, giving the public the impression of an entity willing to admit mistakes and correct them.

What’s more, even if they didn’t agree, could they possibly appeal to other courts or even the Supreme Court?

In the end, they would just end up back in the courtroom of the Internal Revenue Service. If Director David became angry, he might impose more charges on them, potentially resulting in even harsher sentences.

Therefore, accepting this sentence was truly the best outcome for them.