Preface: Please Read My Storyand Follow the Links

Over the course of the past two years the 1031 Exchange industry has been hit with two devastating and perception crushing scandals: Donald McGhan's Southwest Exchange and Ed Okun's 1031 Tax Group (see my 40+ articles on this disaster at deansguide).

I have followed and chronicled Ed Okun and the devastation he wrought on so many investors. Since the beginning of this series in April of 2007,  I was contacted by and consulted with Forbes magazine editor Mike Maiello, contacted by the US Trustee for the victims Gerald McHale, left sinister messages by the man I dubbed "my mystery caller" from Miami who made incredible predictions many which came true, contacted by over 20 of Okun's victims and employees, was threatened by an attorney representing a JPS Capital (read bottom of story in link!!!) whose principles have a very sleazy past and I have had 4 articles published by major media sources.

It's been a long and crazy ride. But we may have seen the end of Ed Okun. After his appeal for bail was denied on May 9th in the Eastern District of Virginia, having lived in VA I will verify that they don't mess around in the South, for what the judge termed "facts that point to Mr. Okun being a flight risk", the Ed Okun saga may be over-maybe.

The Final Chapter?

Once prominent and now disgraced 1031 Tax Group swindler Ed Okun’s criminal trial date was set for October 20, 2008 in accordance with Eastern District of Virginia Judge Payne’s ruling. The date was announced during Okun’s failed attempt to persuade the court to grant him bail at his May 9th Bail hearing.

In US Trustee Gerald McHale’s “Trustee Newsletter #6″, McHale reported that the final pieces of jewelry had been recovered and were being readied for auction. In April according to McHale “the sales of the vehicles, boats, planes and water-craft (“Toys”) netted approximately $1.6 million for the bankruptcy estate.”

A mere pittance of the monies stolen or squandered. More galling is the fact that this represents roughly 1% of the total monies Okun stole during his retirement account plundering days. It isn’t nearly enough to compensate the professionals who are now standing first in line, ahead of the victims, to be paid for services meant to recover stolen assets (the victim’s retirement funds in many cases) for restitution.

To make matters worse, the official word, to my knowledge, has not come down yet as to how the IRS is going to handle each individual case. Will these victims be held accountable for tax bills on the money they had stolen from them?