Mistake costs dishwasher $59,000

[rpannier]

For 11 years, Pedro Zapeta, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, lived his version of the American dream in Stuart, Florida: washing dishes and living frugally to bring money back to his home country.

Two years ago, Zapeta was ready to return to Guatemala, so he carried a duffel bag filled with $59,000 -- all the cash he had scrimped and saved over the years -- to the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

But when Zapeta tried to go through airport security, an officer spotted the money in the bag and called U.S. customs officials.

snip

Robert Gershman, one of Zapeta's attorneys, said federal prosecutors later offered his client a deal: He could take $10,000 of the original cash seized, plus $9,000 in donations as long as he didn't talk publicly and left the country immediately.

snip

On Wednesday, Zapeta went to immigration court and got more bad news. The judge gave the dishwasher until the end of January to
leave the country on his own. He's unlikely to see a penny of his money.

link:
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/09/27/immigrant.money/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

on note:
Get him out of the country quickly before he becomes a problem. This bothers me. Guy works hard, makes money...he didn't pay taxes, so the government should take out what he owes...if anything.
The deal they (the government) offered is really suspicious.

[Justyce]

1. Strange story... I wonder what 11 years' worth of taxes on $5.75/hr is?

Probably not much, huh? I know the years when I didn't make much, my taxes were very low.

[mainegreen]

2. So, he didn't pay taxes, was an illegal immigrant, didn't declare the 59k at customs

the US government offered to 19,000 to him and he still said no?

He's a total fucking moron. Foreign workers do not send bags of cash back home. They are well away of Western Union and wire transfers. This didn't just 'happen' to him and it isn't a tragedy.

[rpannier]

4. As I mention in my OP

the thing that troubles me about all this is the deal the government offered where they'd give him 19K and he shuts up about the whole thing.
That's just so weird (IMO)

I have been living overseas since 95 and send money home regularly.
The fact he thought he could just carry 59K in cash is really strange. I mean, he should have realized he'd set up flares with that kind of cash.

If he had gotten out of the country his bag would have most likely been confiscated when he arrived home because it's probably taxable in his home country.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I find the government's deal quite strange.

[mainegreen]

9. I think it likely that someone in the gov't realized what a shit-storm this would raise

and probably just wanted it to go away fast before he ended up having to write 40 reports in triplicate.
While the TSA wand wavers can be total dopes, customs officials, especially those higher up, tend to be on the smarter side. I'm sure the gov't official thought 19k sounded fair (it sounds fair to me), and that everybody should settle, be quite about it (to avoid just what I'm sure they're going through now) and move on with things.

This just doesn't sound like 'big bogeyman government' to me.

:shrug:

[rpannier]

10. Makes sense

By nature I am always suspicious of government (which is somewhat odd as I work for a federal agency) and tend to see conspiracy in anything that sounds the slightest bit odd.

Your explanation makes perfectly good sense.

[Boojatta]

12. "it's probably taxable in his home country"

Yes, but the tax rate is 100%. Have you heard of "black market" currency exchange markets? Unless I am mistaken, there are countries where it is illegal to buy and sell currencies. (I'm not talking about selling counterfeit money. I'm talking about genuine currencies.)

As far as the UN is concerned, governments around the world have the "sovereign right" to force citizens to liquid assets that are "inconvenient" for the government and to then inflate away the value of the citizens' savings.

Have you done any research on Nixon's gold policy? Did he merely stop using the gold standard, or did he force Americans to liquidate their gold holdings? Is there anything in American treaty law with respect to the UN that could have been used by the American judicial system to force Nixon to modify his policies?

[RB TexLa]

3. He may very well have paid taxes for part of the 11 years. A catch 22

Can't tell them, "No, I used fraudulent documents and paid taxes for about have of the 11 years."

[ret5hd]

7. I know the story says "didn't pay taxes"...

i wonder if someone dug into it if the fact really is that he didn't file tax returns.

the story says he showed a bunch of pay stubs. an employer paying an employee by check (as opposed to cash) would probably be witholding taxes.

My guess is he paid taxes, didn't file returns, and if he was documented he would be due a large refund.

Simply a guess though.

[Kokonoe]

15. Nobody is even required to file income tax if they get a refund.

[Richard Steele]

17. A guess, perhaps, but a pretty SAFE one.

The guy was a DISHWASHER- what are the odds he actually
OWED any taxes on that miniscule dishwasher salary?

If he has pay stubs, but didn't file any returns,
it's more than likely that the IRS owes HIM money.

[Squatch]

5. "...Pedro Zapeta, an ILLEGAL immigrant..."

Is there ANYTHING more that needs to be said?

[NYVet]

16. Not for most people

but some DU'ers think that there needs to be more said.

[PDenton]

6. Down here in Florida they have services for that

you can see, in the Hispanic parts of town, lots of businesses advertising for cash and parcel transfers to Latin America. The signs are all in Spanish, but I can read Spanish. My dad had no idea what they were for until I told him.

[Toots]

8. How could a dish washer not have paid taxes?

A dish washer is not a sub-contractor. They are a paid employee like everyone else and must have taxes taken out of their paycheck. While it may be true that he used a phony social security number it just means he will never receive any social security benefits but it doesn't mean he did not pay. Speaking as an employer I think it would be extremely difficult for any business to avoid reporting payroll taxes....The government keeps a very close eye on business.

[ret5hd]

11. I agree...see my post #7

[Boojatta]

13. The bright side is that the restaurant didn't use a $59,000 plate

without warning employees that it had a high value and then make the dishwasher pay when he accidentally broke it.

[Freddie Stubbs]

14. So, he comes here illegally doesn't pay taxes and then complains when the government takes his cash?