It took the IRS and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Barbara J. Houser a month to figure out just how much Sam Wyly and sister-in-law Dee Wyly, widow of Charles Wyly and namesake of the Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus designed theater in the Dallas Arts District, owed in taxes after being found guilty of tax evasion in 2014 and declaring bankruptcy after the ruling.
The grand total between the Wylys? $1.1 billion.
The Wylys were found guilty in 2014 of using Isle of Man off-shore accounts and trading to avoid paying taxes. Dee Wyly was ruled an “innocent spouse,” claiming to not know the financial details of the family, which meant a lighter penalty.
At the same time, Houser ruled that Charles Wyly’s widow, Dee, “is innocent of any wrongdoing.”
The fact that Dee Wyly “did not know the details of what Sam and Charles had done offshore is clear,” Houser wrote. “There was nothing that should have ‘tipped her off’ that something was amiss. She did not commit fraud, she did not participate in any fraud, she was not willfully blind, and she is entitled to the benefit of the innocent spouse defense.”
The IRS originally sought more than $2 billion, but filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy lessened the bill. At the time of the filing, Dee Wyly claimed $67 million in assets and $81 million in debt. The Wylys put their Woody Creek, Colo., ranch on the market with an asking price of $50 million. It has since been reduced to $39.9 million.
Wyly family general counsel Stewart Thomas has said they disagree to the court’s finding of fraud.
One has to wonder what other assets will be sold as the government tries to recover that whopping tax bill.
Sam Wyly owns the home at 3905 Beverly (pictured at top), a five-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath mansion that is caddy-corner to the Dallas Country Club’s golf course, which is on the tax rolls for more than $9 million. Dee Wyly owns 5906 Deloache, a seven-bedroom, seven-and-a-half-bath estate on more than 2.5 acres behind gates at the corner of Deloache and Jourdan Way. It’s on the Dallas County tax rolls for almost $5.9 million.
