On Wednesday, prosecutor Jack Jorbon revised a tax-related criminal case against American attorney David Lowe, reducing the number of charges from 153 to 86, while adding a new charge that aims to prevent Lowe from practicing law in the Marshall Islands. Lowe, who is based in California, is the attorney for former Marshall Islands President and powerful paramount chief Imata Kabua, and has represented many high-profile clients in the Marshall Islands since he was a public defender during the United States administration of the Micronesia area when it was a Trust Territory.
Jorbon’s criminal action against Lowe says that Lowe did not pay any Marshall Islands taxes from 2005 to 2011 period.
Jorbon said the earlier charges were dismissed by his office and refilled to meet the statute of limitations, and include additional charges.
The original case was filed in 2002, with tax evasion charges dating to 1998, but no action was taken to prosecute the case by the government until last year when Chief Justice Carl Ingram put the AG’s office on notice that he was considering dismissing the matter for lack of action. Since then, Jorbon has reactivated the charges, filing various motions and amendments to the original case.
Assistant secretary of finance Bruce Bilimon, who handles tax matters for the Ministry of Finance, said in an affidavit that Lowe has “never reported nor paid quarterly gross revenue taxes, wages earned or salary taxes” for the period since 2005.
The new charges include 84 charging he did not pay retirement, health fund or gross receipts taxes from 2005 through the first quarter of 2011.
The other two charges include a claim he is a non-citizen doing business without first obtaining a foreign investment business license, and a second one that could cancel his license to practice law for failure to pay taxes.
