A Messari crypto conference sponsor is tax dodger who says 99% of Americans shouldn’t pay up

DL News · 2024-10-03T20:12:06.000Z

The sponsors of Messari Mainnet, a crypto conference in New York City, include a who’s who of crypto. There are industry pillars like Coinbase, Circle and Ripple. There are up-and-comers like Pyth and Jito. And then there’s Freedom Law School, which paid $40,000 to sponsor the conference, the founder, Peymon Mottahedeh, told DL News. When attendees walked into the conference hall in Manhattan, the company’s booth greeted participants in all caps: “PAY NO CRYPTO TAXES EVER.” Freedom Law School tells customers that they don’t have to pay federal income tax. If the US Internal Revenue Service does go after them for tax evasion, the company promises to protect them — for a fee. For a single taxpayer with a salary of $100,000, it costs approximately $4,500 a year to opt into the “Restore Freedom Plan,” according to the business’s online estimator. Mahesh Sashital, a crypto startup founder at the conference, raised his eyebrows at Freedom Law School’s legal proclamations. “I would never really want to be associated with something like this,” he told DL News. Messari, though, didn’t seem to mind. Freedom Law School’s logo was on their website for the conference. It was plastered across signage at the conference venue. And Peymon Mottahedeh, founder of the business, spoke on the conference floor on Monday about how to not pay taxes. His presentation was part of his sponsorship package, Eric Turner, the CEO of Messari, told DL News. He declined to comment on the details of the agreement, including the sponsorship amount. “Messari works with a range of sponsors solving various problems that crypto users face,” Turner told DL News. “Rather than trying to be arbiters of solutions, our goal is to create conversations between people in the industry.” “If people want to remain ignorant and not look at things with an open mind, that’s their problem,” Mottahedeh, the founder, told DL News. ‘Fear not’ Mottahedeh claims on his website that he hasn’t paid federal income taxes since 1993. In a pamphlet he handed out to attendees at Messari’s conference, he argued that “it has been proven” that the only people required to pay federal income taxes are residents of Washington and federal workers in the nation’s capital. But Mottahedeh hasn’t had much success in court. In 2016, the Department of Justice successfully convicted Richard Grant, a member of Mottahedeh’s Freedom Law School, for tax evasion. Grant was sentenced to 33 months in prison. “Instead of using the lawyer we PLEADED with Richard to get, he hired his own lawyer, ignoring our suggestions,” read an entry on Freedom Law School’s website. And, in 2023, an appeals court reaffirmed a tax court’s decision that Mottahedeh had evaded paying taxes from 2001 to 2006. “The court of appeals did not address anything I said,” Mottahedeh told DL News. “The briefs were voluminous.” However, the Freedom Law School won’t let the law or his mortality get in the way of his mission to spread the gospel of tax evasion. “Fear not!” reads a response to a frequently asked question on his website about “What Happens if Peymon Dies?” The Freedom Law School founder has been passing along his secrets of tax evasion to “passionate activists,” it continued. “You will not be stuck when Peymon passes away.” Ben Weiss is a Dubai Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at bweiss@dlnews.com. (Disclosure: Llama Corp, the parent of DL News, provides some of the same services of Messari.)

Sponsor Messari Mainnet, sebuah konferensi kripto di New York City, meliputi tokoh-tokoh kripto ternama.
Ada pilar industri seperti Coinbase, Circle, dan Ripple. Ada pendatang baru seperti Pyth dan Jito.
Dan kemudian ada Freedom Law School, yang membayar $40.000 untuk mensponsori konferensi tersebut, sang pendiri, Peymon Mottahedeh, mengatakan kepada DL News.
Ketika para peserta memasuki aula konferensi di Manhattan, stan perusahaan menyambut para peserta dengan huruf kapital: “JANGAN PERNAH MEMBAYAR PAJAK KRIPTO.”
Freedom Law School memberi tahu pelanggan bahwa mereka tidak perlu membayar pajak penghasilan federal. Jika Dinas Pendapatan Internal AS benar-benar mengejar mereka karena penggelapan pajak, perusahaan berjanji untuk melindungi mereka — dengan biaya tertentu.
Bagi seorang pembayar pajak tunggal dengan gaji $100.000, biaya yang harus dikeluarkan untuk mengikuti “Rencana Pemulihan Kebebasan” adalah sekitar $4.500 per tahun, menurut penaksir daring perusahaan tersebut.
Mahesh Sashital, pendiri perusahaan rintisan kripto di konferensi tersebut, mengangkat alisnya pada pernyataan hukum Freedom Law School.
"Saya tidak akan pernah ingin terlibat dengan sesuatu seperti ini," ungkapnya kepada DL News.
Namun, Messari tampaknya tidak keberatan. Logo Freedom Law School ada di situs web mereka untuk konferensi tersebut. Logo itu terpampang di papan informasi di tempat konferensi. Dan Peymon Mottahedeh, pendiri bisnis tersebut, berbicara di lantai konferensi pada hari Senin tentang cara menghindari pajak.
Presentasinya merupakan bagian dari paket sponsornya, kata Eric Turner, CEO Messari, kepada DL News. Ia menolak berkomentar mengenai rincian perjanjian, termasuk jumlah sponsor.
“Messari bekerja sama dengan sejumlah sponsor untuk memecahkan berbagai masalah yang dihadapi pengguna kripto,” kata Turner kepada DL News. “Daripada mencoba menjadi penengah solusi, tujuan kami adalah menciptakan percakapan antara orang-orang di industri ini.”
“Jika orang-orang ingin tetap bodoh dan tidak melihat sesuatu dengan pikiran terbuka, itu masalah mereka,” kata Mottahedeh, sang pendiri, kepada DL News.
‘Jangan takut’
Mottahedeh mengklaim di situs webnya bahwa dia belum membayar pajak penghasilan federal sejak tahun 1993.
Dalam pamflet yang dibagikannya kepada peserta konferensi Messari, ia berpendapat bahwa “telah terbukti” bahwa satu-satunya orang yang diwajibkan membayar pajak penghasilan federal adalah penduduk Washington dan pekerja federal di ibu kota negara.
Namun Mottahedeh tidak memperoleh banyak keberhasilan di pengadilan.
Pada tahun 2016, Departemen Kehakiman berhasil menghukum Richard Grant, anggota Sekolah Hukum Kebebasan Mottahedeh, atas penggelapan pajak. Grant dijatuhi hukuman 33 bulan penjara.
“Daripada menggunakan pengacara yang kami MOHON agar Richard dapatkan, dia malah menyewa pengacaranya sendiri, mengabaikan saran kami,” demikian bunyi entri di situs web Freedom Law School.
Dan, pada tahun 2023, pengadilan banding menegaskan kembali keputusan pengadilan pajak yang menyatakan bahwa Mottahedeh telah menghindari pembayaran pajak dari tahun 2001 hingga 2006.
"Pengadilan banding tidak menanggapi apa pun yang saya katakan," kata Mottahedeh kepada DL News. "Berkas-berkasnya sangat banyak."
Namun, Freedom Law School tidak akan membiarkan hukum atau kematiannya menghalangi misinya untuk menyebarkan ajaran penggelapan pajak.
“Jangan takut!” demikian bunyi tanggapan terhadap pertanyaan yang sering diajukan di situs webnya tentang “Apa yang Terjadi Jika Peymon Meninggal?”
Pendiri Freedom Law School telah menyampaikan rahasia penggelapan pajaknya kepada "para aktivis yang bersemangat," lanjutnya. "Anda tidak akan terjebak saat Peymon meninggal dunia."
Ben Weiss adalah Koresponden Dubai di DL News. Punya info? Kirim email kepadanya di bweiss@dlnews.com.
(Pengungkapan: Llama Corp, induk dari DL News, menyediakan beberapa layanan yang sama dengan Messari.)

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