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Federal officers have arrested a 75-year-old Wayne County man on charges he had helped a Pennsylvania doctor avoid paying taxes and repaying student loans he had defaulted on.
Robert G. Wray, of Torrey, was arrested on a grand jury indictment that charges him with 34 counts of conspiracy to defraud, wire fraud, bankruptcy fraud and aiding and abetting.
Wray claims to be a "sovereign" citizen exempt from U.S. laws and uses various names such as Robert-George of the Wray Clan and Robert-George: Wray of the Christ Clan so he can argue he has not been properly identified in legal documents, according to the indictment filed on Sept. 18. in Philadelphia.
He allegedly helped Dennis Erik Fluck Von Kiel, a doctor of osteopathy who also goes by various names, avoid garnishment of his wages for failing to pay back student loans and avoid paying income taxes.
One of those methods included Von Kiel joining a Utah-based religious organization called the International Academy of Lymphology as a minister and signing a vow of poverty while assigning his income and assets to the organization, according to the indictment.
Von Kiel then allegedly identified himself as a trust and told his employer he was exempt from federal income taxes, which then were not withheld from his salary.
Later, Von Kiel also directed his employer to deposit his wages into a bank account in Orem and from there they were transferred to a Bank of America account assigned to True Life Ministries Inc., of which Von Kiel was the sole signatory and trustee.
Wray also claimed to be a lawyer representing Von Kiel as an "attorney-at-lawe" for a "Constitutional Lawe Association," the indictment says.
If convicted, Wray faces up to 20 years in prison on the wire fraud charges and up to 5 years on the others along with fines of up to $250,000 on each count.
Wray's activities were investigated by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigations. He was arrested Friday.