Robert Andrew Lund, Tax Evasion, Oregon 2023

PORTLAND, Ore.—A brazen tax cheat has pleaded guilty to six felony charges after failing to pay more than $1.7 million in personal income taxes in a complex scheme dating back to 2001.

Robert Andrew Lund, of Lebanon, Oregon, pleaded guilty to tax evasion, failure to file personal income tax returns, and stealing food stamp and Medicaid benefits.

According to court documents, Lund, a computer engineer and programmer for the Hewlett Packard company, moved to Oregon in the mid-1980s and started a private computer consulting company called Lund Performance Solutions (LPS). LPS’s clients included large businesses, school districts, and health care companies located throughout the U.S. In 1993, Lund paid $30,000 to an offshore trust promoter to establish layers of trusts to hide his LPS profits from the IRS.

Despite LPS being highly profitable, Lund reported almost no income on his personal income tax returns from 1994 to 1996. The IRS audited Lund and determined he owed more than $2.7 million in taxes plus penalties. Lund used his untaxed profits to buy 90 acres of land outside Eugene, Oregon, where he built a 7,000 square foot house valued at $950,000.

Lund also built a private landing strip on the property and purchased the former city hall and post office building in Albany, Oregon, a trailer park with multiple rental units, and two rental houses. Lund ran LPS and several smaller businesses from the building in Albany.

Lund’s scheme was so elaborate that he even hired an attorney who surrendered his law license and was convicted for filing false tax returns. The IRS sent Lund dozens of letters, bills, and summonses for financial records, but Lund replied with claims that he was not a U.S. citizen and therefore not subject to taxation or the IRS’s authority.

As part of his plea agreement, Lund will pay more than $1.7 million in restitution to the IRS and $70,000 to the Oregon Health Authority. He faces a maximum sentence of 27 years in prison, $950,000 in fines, and three years’ supervised release. His sentencing is set for October 14, 2021, before U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Simon.

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