Tax Evaders' Property Goes to Auction

By Sheryl Rich-Kern on Thursday, February 7, 2008.

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The saga continues for convicted tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown of Plainfield.

The couple is still sitting in jail, while many of their possessions sat under the glaring lights of an IRS auction.

NHPR Correspondent Sheryl Rich-Kern attended the auction in Nashua today and files this report.

Sound, ambience

About 60 treasure hunters arrived at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Nashua.

Cautiously, they studied the glitter that once belonged to Ed and Elaine Brown:

A diamond stick pin, gold and silver coins, and a one kilo gold bar valued at around 30,000 dollars.

The Browns made headlines last year when they tried to stiff the IRS.

They believe they’re not required to pay income taxes.

After a very public, months-long standoff with Federal Marshalls, the two were finally captured last fall and sent to prison for 5 years.

But they still owe the federal government 2.2 million dollars.

Keith Thomas is an IRS property appraiser and auctioneer.

He points to the precious metals beneath a glass case.

If it’s an identifiable coin, we need to get 95 percent of what it traded for on the New York Mercantile. Yesterday gold brought 900.70 cents per troy ounce.

At 12:15 PM, the bidding opened with the fast talking -- and fast math -- of the auctioneer:

Auctioneer rambling, fade up and down

Peter Rhee drove up from Queens, New York after seeing the auction listed on the IRS website.

Rhee outbid several other attendees for the precious Engelhard gold bar.

His price: just over 32 thousand dollars.

Rhee says he will present the gold to his children.

PR: It’s not commercial. I can buy. I can give them. It’s a nice gift, yes?

Rich-Kern: Can you adopt me?

Belly laughs

Rhee says he’s been going to IRS auctions for years.

It’s an almost patriotic mission because, Rhee says, he’s putting funds back in the federal coffers.

PR: The government can use for the poor people, good people. It’s not money that stay’s there. I think it’s a good idea.

Rick Letoile collects precious metals.

His biggest and only purchase of the day: the plane ticket from his home in Crystal River, Florida.

RL: The auction prices were high. There weren’t any real bargains based on forecast. People went higher thinking gold will go up.

Atkins: People feel like they’re winning something; you can tell.

That’s Dave Atkins, from Boston.

DA: They’re not winning a thing. They’re walking out with less money in their pockets. They just don’t realize it. Maybe their calculators don’t work.

The IRS doesn’t need to know why people love to follow government auctions.

All they need to know is what they reclaim.

On this particular day, the IRS received about 78,000 dollars.

This was the second and last day the Brown’s cache went up on the auction block.

Wednesday, in Massachusetts, the government raised 22 thousand.

But that’s a far cry from the millions Ed and Elaine Brown owe.

For NHPR news in Nashua, this is Sheryl Rich-Kern.