NEWS

Foundation ‘promoting the Kingdom of God’ used by Ozark man to avoid taxes

Trevor J. Mitchell
TMITCHELL@NEWS-LEADER.COM

An Ozark man pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to creating a foundation “to do whatever will promote the Kingdom Of God” and then using it to avoid paying $585,000 in federal taxes.

Courts

Wesley Delport, 69, was the owner of Abundant Health & Wellness, a holistic health clinic in Springfield.

The business received $4.7 million in gross receipts between 2004 and 2013, none of which he reported to the IRS, according to a release from the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

Delport conspired with Alton Vaughn, 58, who has pleaded guilty to assisting Delport. Vaughn was self-employed and assisted people with federal income tax returns and advising others on dealing with the IRS.

To avoid paying the taxes, Delport created an entity called The Shammah Foundation in 2001, describing its purpose as “to do whatever will promote the Kingdom of God, All Righteousness and the principles of Liberty and Justice.”

Delport than transferred nearly $400,000 from Abundant Health & Wellness accounts to accounts for The Shammah Foundation, and used that account to pay personal expenses without reporting those funds as income.

Delport also admitted he submitted documents to the IRS in an attempt to delay investigations, falsely reported IRS investigators for threatening him and counseled an employee of Abundant Health & Wellness to refuse to testify before a grand jury.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Delport must pay the government $585,710 in restitution.

Delport and Vaughn are both subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison, plus a fine of up to $250,000.