DENVER — A federal jury on Monday found Estes Park resident Marcia Predmore and three co-defendants guilty on all counts in a long-running tax-fraud conspiracy case involving what prosecutors described as an abusive trust scheme designed to help clients evade millions of dollars in federal income taxes.
The verdicts were returned shortly after noon in U.S. District Court in Denver following approximately two days of jury deliberations after a five-week trial.
Jurors found Predmore, Roderick Prescott, Suzanne Thompson, and Weldon Wulstein guilty on all charges against them.
The convictions stem from a superseding federal indictment alleging the defendants conspired with tax-scheme promoter Larry Conner and Predmore’s husband, Timothy McPhee, to market and implement an abusive trust tax shelter that prosecutors said fraudulently diverted income through a series of sham trusts and purported charitable foundations.
The indictment alleged the scheme operated from at least 2018 through 2023 and was designed to impede the Internal Revenue Service’s ability to assess and collect federal income taxes.
Prosecutors said clients were instructed to route business income through multiple trusts that reported deductions matching or exceeding income, while funds remained available for the clients’ personal use.
Predmore, an Estes Park resident, and McPhee were accused of promoting the trust structure through their business, Private Banking Concepts. According to the government’s evidence, Predmore and McPhee recruited clients, referred them to Conner’s trust program, and benefited financially through related financial products and referral arrangements.
The case centered on allegations that the defendants helped market, administer, account for, and prepare tax filings connected to the trust structure.
Thompson and Wulstein were convicted of providing bookkeeping and tax-preparation services for clients using the arrangement, while Prescott was accused of helping establish trusts and private family foundations that prosecutors described as sham entities.
“These defendants were repeatedly warned by attorneys, CPAs, financial professionals, and IRS guidance that this trust-based scheme was illegal, yet they chose to ignore those warnings. Their conspiracy was a deliberate attempt to conceal income and undermine the integrity of our nation’s tax system while lining their own pockets through their lies,” said Amanda Prestegard, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-CI Denver Field Office.
“We appreciate the jury’s verdict and the message it sends to those who promote or engage in abusive tax schemes. IRS-CI will continue to partner with DOJ-Tax to pursue these criminal tax evaders,” said Prestegard.
In addition to conspiracy, Predmore was convicted on six counts of tax evasion for failing to pay federal income taxes between 2016 and 2021.
Predmore will be released on bond. Her sentencing is set for October 26.