Thursday, March 25, 1999
Salt Lake City Tribune
State Agency Ex-Boss Charged with Fraud, Extortion, Tax Evasion
BY JIM WOOLF
Larry F. Anderson, a former director of the Utah Division of Radiation Control, was charged Wednesday with extortion, mail fraud, tax evasion and filing false tax returns.
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNEThe six-count indictment handed down in U.S. District Court for Utah stems from $600,000 in secret payments Anderson received from Khosrow B. Semnani, owner of the Envirocare of Utah landfill for low-level radioactive wastes in Tooele County. Envirocare was one of the companies regulated by Anderson.
In a previous civil lawsuit, Anderson claimed he was owed this money and more because of a private consulting relationship with Semnani. But Semnani claimed he was extorted by the state regulator who had the power to create problems for his business.
Wednesday's indictment, the culmination of almost two years of investigation by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service, puts the government squarely on Semnani's side.
The extortion count alleges Anderson "induced" Semnani to pay him $600,000 in cash, gold coins, property and funds deposited in a Swiss bank account "by the wrongful use and threatened use of fear or economic harm and under color of official right." The payments were made between September 1987 and Feb. 17, 1995.
The mail-fraud count alleges Anderson illegally used the U.S. mail as part of a scheme to defraud Utahns of their "rights to Anderson's honest services performed free of deceit, extortion, bias, self-enrichment and self-dealing. The purpose of the scheme was for Anderson to unlawfully enrich himself by using his official position within the state of Utah to obtain money and property from Khosrow B. Semnani and conceal Anderson's unlawful and unauthorized activities from officials of the state of Utah."
Count three alleges Anderson evaded federal taxes in 1991 by hiding $100,000 he received from Semnani in a Swiss bank account.
The remaining three counts allege Anderson made "false statements" when he signed federal income tax forms in 1993, 1994 and 1995. These tax forms failed to include the payments from Semnani and made no mention of the Swiss bank account.
Anderson was ordered to appear before Magistrate Judge Ron Boyce on April 15 at 1:30 p.m. to be arraigned on the charges. The case was assigned to Judge David K. Winder.
Semnani's attorney, Rodney G. Snow, was not surprised by the indictment. "We've said all along that he [Semnani] was the victim of extortion and the indictment demonstrates once again that Mr. Semnani's statements about this right from the beginning were honest, candid and accurate," he said.
Anderson's attorney, James C. Haskins, offered only this when contacted Wednesday by The Tribune: "I don't want to talk to you. Thanks." Anderson, 62, now lives in Mesquite, Nev.
Semnani last July pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to a misdemeanor tax charge for helping to conceal one of his payments to Anderson from the Internal Revenue Service. The businessman was fined $100,000 on the tax charge and agreed to testify against Anderson in any subsequent legal action.
Envirocare president Charles Judd said he was happy for Semnani and his family. "This indictment clearly shows that Mr. Semnani was a victim," he said.
Maximum penalties for the charges are: extortion, 20 years in prison and a fine of two times the gross gain; mail fraud, five years in prison and a fine of two times the gross gain; tax evasion, three years in prison and a $250,000 fine; and filing false tax returns, three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.