Texas Residents Charged with Promoting Illegal Tax Shelter

A federal grand jury in Dallas, Texas returned an indictment on September 22, 2026, charging four Texas residents with conspiracy to defraud the United States and other crimes for promoting an illegal tax shelter.

According to the indictment, Texas residents Duncan John MacDonald, Sarah Duren, Richard Ronald Cayce, and Thomas Weickgenant promoted and sold a fraudulent trust scheme that was used to shelter more than $1.5 billion of income, causing an estimated tax loss to the IRS of more than $200 million. The defendants allegedly sold clients the tax shelter for fees that often exceeded $100,000 by fraudulently telling clients that they could assign their income to sham trusts to defer paying taxes in perpetuity, all while continuing to enjoy the benefit and control over their assets and income. The defendants also allegedly encouraged some clients to backdate their trusts and file amended income tax returns claiming refunds for prior years' taxes.

The indictment also alleges that Weickgenant, who allegedly filed false tax returns for tax shelter clients, obstructed IRS efforts to audit those clients. Weickgenant's alleged obstruction included instructing clients not to speak with the IRS and encouraging at least one client not to comply with a U.S. District Court order to enforce an IRS summons.

The indictment further alleges that MacDonald and Duren, common-law spouses, evaded income taxes on the millions they received in fees from selling the tax shelter. To do so, the couple allegedly concealed MacDonald's ownership of the tax shelter business and lied to federal investigators. They also allegedly filed false tax returns, used trusts to conceal their receipt of income, and paid personal living expenses through trusts and nominee accounts held in the names of third parties. Allegedly, Cayce, who owned the distributorship licensing the trust tax shelter, likewise received millions of dollars in fees, which he failed to report on his income tax returns.

Additionally, according to the allegations, MacDonald fraudulently solicited $2 million from investors to purportedly purchase shares in a business promoting the tax shelter by allegedly developing digital trusts. Instead, MacDonald allegedly used the $2 million to purchase luxury goods for himself, including a Rolls Royce Ghost (pictured below top with MacDonald) and the downpayment for a yacht (pictured below bottom). At the time he received funds from investors, MacDonald allegedly was under a court-ordered injunction prohibiting him from selling securities not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The defendants are charged with the following offenses and, if convicted, face the following maximum prison sentences:

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division and U.S. Attorney Ryan R. Raybould for the Northern District of Texas made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Assistant Deputy Chief William Montague and Trial Attorney Max Willner-Giwerc of the National Fraud Enforcement Division's Tax Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric B. Chen of the Northern District of Texas are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the Fraud Division. The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department's work to combat fraud supports President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.