If criminal tax evasion were comparable to baseball, one might say that Philadelphia attorney Robert A. Braun's work ethic was on par with Cal Ripkin's.
Braun, 46, who specializes in brokering foreign adoptions, at $11,000 a pop, has had quite a streak going when it came to ducking Uncle Sam: He has been cheating on his federal income taxes for at least 17 years.
Described as "an astute businessman," Braun hasn't filed a tax return since at least 1978.
Why bother?
But the Internal Revenue Service has finally tagged him out, although it took some plea bargaining to do it.
Braun, a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and Temple University Law School, yesterday pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of tax evasion for 1991, a year when he had a taxable income of more than $119,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Rice said Braun used eight bank accounts to hide his income, including one in Bucharest, Romania.
The prosecutor said Braun got his elderly mother to do his banking for him by making large cash deposits in the joint accounts Braun had opened in their names.
Once Braun even bought a condominium in his mother's name and later transfereed it to himself and his wife for a nominal payment of $1.
In exchange for his guilty plea, the government will drop four other tax evasion counts for the years 1987-1990, although Braun has admitted not paying taxes throughout that period, too.
His tax debt, alone, not counting interest and penalties, is $116,000 for the five years, a period when he earned more than $372,000, said Rice.
Tax evasion couldn't be charged for the years before 1987 because of the statute of limitations, the prosecutor said.
Braun will be sentenced Dec. 11 by U.S. District Judge Lowell A. Reed Jr.
In the meantime, he remains free on $50,000 unsecured bail.
Braun, of 12th Street near South, is facing a prison term of 10 to 16 months.
He also will be required to pay all back taxes, plus interest and penalties, not only for the five-year period covered by his indictment but also for the years since 1991.
One source estimated that Braun's total tax bill would exceed $500,000.
