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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune Published: May 30, 2012 Updated: May 30, 2012 - 6:00 AM

A car dealer accused of nearly $9 million in tax refund fraud whose freedom vexed Tampa's police chief for months was arrested Monday on 32 federal criminal charges.

Authorities say Russell B. Simmons Jr., 42, owner of Simmons Auto Sales on North 34th Street, used the proceeds of tax fraud to buy a $60,000 Bentley coupe and a lot of diamond jewelry, including a $30,000, 18-karat gold Rolex perpetual date watch with a diamond dial; a 14-karat gold men's bracelet with 2,420 diamonds; a 14-karat chain and "RS" pendant with 703 diamonds; and a 14-karat ring with 110 diamonds.

He was also found with a lot of cash: Simmons and some friends were stopped in November at the airport in Orlando en route to a boxing match in Los Vegas. The group was carrying $75,000 among them. The others told investigators the money came from Simmons, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mandy Riedel said.

Simmons is "very big to us," said John Joyce, special agent in charge of the Tampa office of the U.S. Secret Service, which helped investigate the case. Joyce called him "one of the bigger players" targeted through Operation Rainmaker, a joint federal, state and local investigation into tax refund fraud.

Defense attorney Nicholas Matassini Jr. said Simmons plans to "vigorously defend the case." He added, "Clearly, both sides have a lot of work to do."

Simmons was among a number of business owners arrested in the joint investigation last summer, initially on state identity theft and credit card fraud charges, after Secret Service agents searched his business Aug. 31. However, the charges were dismissed because of the pending federal investigation, and Simmons was allowed to go free.

As the case wore on, Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor went public with her irritation at the slow pace of the investigation into a piece of the tax fraud scourge spreading among street criminals. Authorities say hundreds of millions of dollars in bogus income tax returns have been processed from the Tampa area alone.

"We have an individual that we know did in the ballpark of $9 million in tax fraud," Castor said in February. "He was arrested and charged in September. And there's no reason for us to believe that he's slowed down at all."

In March, Tampa Detective Sal Augeri testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee in Washington about tax refund fraud and described the Simmons case without naming him. "We have no reason to believe he has stopped committing this crime," Augeri said then.

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Car dealer arrested in $9 million tax fraud case

By Daily Mail Reporter and Becky Barrow

PUBLISHED: 04:57 EST, 29 May 2012 | UPDATED: 04:57 EST, 29 May 2012

Today is the first this year that we started to earn money for ourselves instead of the taxman.

Tax Freedom Day is calculated each year by think tank the Adam Smith Institute by subtracting the money taken in all forms of tax from net national income.

This year we all had to work 149 days to pay off that tax.

For the taxman's coffers: Workers had to work an average of 149 days to pay off all forms of tax

Dr Eamonn Butler, the institutes director, said the theoretical date is the plainest way to show what the tax burden really is.

TFD was on May 28 in 2011, making it two days later this year, including a leap year day.

The think tank adds levies including VAT, income tax, national insurance, council tax, excise duties, air passenger taxes, fuel and vehicle taxes in its calculations.

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Tax Freedom Day: Today is the first day this year we earn for ourselves instead of the taxman

Expats or second-home owners in Europe (Chicago Options: ^REURUSD - news) could see property values dramatically slashed if Greece was to exit the euro.

Greek properties would be the hardest hit with prices falling as much as 50 per cent, according to startling estimates made by foreign currency specialists HiFX . It has seen enquires from Britons looking to sell their European homes rise by almost 200 per cent since 2008.

Its (Euronext: ALITS.NX - news) research shows that 39 per cent of Britons are looking to sell up in Greece, 34 per cent in Spain and 23 per cent in Portugal.

Mark Bodega, marketing director at HiFX, said: "As many European governments tackle their deficits, second-home owners, especially those based overseas, have become easy targets for tax increases and as a result many are selling up and returning their assets to the UK."

James Price, head of international residential development at Knight Frank , said that many Britons had previously seen European properties as attractive short-term investments for their rental incomes. That has now changed.

"What people are looking at now is the security of their asset in the long term," he explained.

The Greeks go to the polls for the second time next month to decide who will take control of a government that needs to implement tough budget cuts if it is to remain a member of the eurozone.

While thousands of Britons are selling up and bringing money back into sterling, some brave investors are doing the opposite and buying euros, in the hope of picking up a European property on the cheap or renovating properties they already own.

Desirable locations are still the south of France, Tuscany and the Balearics for investors looking for a bargain.

Forex firm MoneyCorp says that while euro-to-sterling deals have doubled in the past month, it has also seen transactions the other way mushroom.

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Britons rush to sell European properties

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/b4jgvx/global_transfer_pr) has announced the addition of the "Global Transfer Pricing Solutions: Eighth Edition" book to their offering.

8th edition of Global Transfer Pricing Solutions, a Special Report on the most important and up-to-date legal, tax and practical considerations for building a global business strategy.

When entering a global market, business professionals will encounter tax compliance policies that, without proper foresight and preparation, may compromise profit margins. Global Transfer Pricing Solutions details the often complex transfer pricing and tax compliance policies of local authorities around the globe. In this Report, professionals will ascertain critical issues and innovative strategies for growing their multinational business while maintaining an aggressive market strategy.

Global Transfer Pricing Solutions garners insights from experienced practitioners of international legal and accounting firms and senior international transfer pricing professionals at the largest multinationals. Articles offer full coverage of the major worldwide transfer pricing regimes with in-depth analysis of proactive transfer pricing management, e-commerce, intellectual property, and much more.

This one-of-a-kind resource explores key topics such as:

- Unwrapping the New Cost Sharing Regulations in the U.S. (Miller & Chevalier)

- Transfer Pricing Documentation Strategies Across Multiple Jurisdictions (Ceteris)

- Transfer Pricing Strategies in China: Moving Toward Certainty - New Entrants and Increased Enforcement (PricewaterhouseCoopers)

- Transfer Pricing in Korea, the Philippines and Taiwan (PricewaterhouseCoopers)

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Research and Markets: Global Transfer Pricing Solutions: Up-to-Date Legal, Tax and Practical Considerations for ...

THE central bank has lifted its ban on Zimplats from using the local banking system after the company complied with an order to shift foreign accounts onshore.

In a statement Wednesday, the RBZ said: Following compliance by Zimplats to close its offshore accounts and transfer these balances onshore in line with the government policy on localisation of offshore accounts, the administrative penalties instituted against the company have been lifted with immediate effect.

The revocation of these administrative penalties follows Zimplats compliance with the Reserve Bank ultimatum to localise all its offshore accounts.

As per exchange control directive . . . Zimplats is now free to use the local banking system for its international and local banking activities.

Last Friday the RBZ ordered local banks to stop processing and facilitating international or any cross-border payments for Zimplats, accusing the company of defying an ordered issued in February for all miners to bank locally.

Zimplats had denied the allegations saying 75 percent of its total spending went through the local banking system, with the balance relating mainly to the servicing of offshore loans which were raised with the knowledge, support and approval of the central bank.

Management however said talks with the central bank were continuing.

Management is working closely with the RBZ to ensure that the localisation of the off-shore bank accounts is implemented smoothly and that the provisions of the companys agreements including its off-shore loans, are honoured, the company said in a statement.

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Zimplats banking ban lifted