Bob Moussallem had tax liens filed against him
and was contacted by Birmingham IRS agent William Cooper, who
suggested that Moussallem make an offer in compromise. Knowing
nothing about such a procedure, Moussallem concluded that Cooper
was a corrupt IRS agent who would take bribes. Moussallem
thereafter (like lots of gurus), got into the “guru promotion”
business: he alleged that tax debts and liens could be satisfied
if he was involved in working out a settlement and he worked with
Cooper (for a huge price, of course).
Lorentz Opdahl, from South Dakota, sold his farming related
business for about 1.2 million bux, filed tax returns regarding
this sale, but ultimately “owed” as much as he had received from
the sale of his business. Eventually, he learned about
Moussallem’s “program” of giving him cash to deliver to Cooper to
satisfy tax debts. Opdahl met with Moussallem and Cooper in a
Birmingham hotel room (video-taped by cameras hidden in secret
spots in the hotel room), where this program was explained to him.
He later delivered 289,000 in cash to Moussallem, for delivery to
Cooper. A short time later, Moussallem delivered to Cooper 120,000
in cash (all recorded by cameras operated by IRS special agents).
Clearly, Moussallem kept 169,000 bux.
Both Moussallem and Opdahl were indicted for bribery and
conspiracy to commit bribery, and Moussallem was convicted at
trial on both counts, but Opdahl was convicted only on the
conspiracy count. I remember just before sentencing
receiving a call from the prosecutor telling me that Moussallem
had been killed when a shotgun he was inspecting discharged,
killing him. I have a different conclusion, and believe this is an
unsolved murder, perhaps engineered by a victim of guru
Moussallem, or some of his compatriots who did not want him to
talk (after all, he had been convicted).
Opdahl was sentenced, but got bond on appeal. His conviction was
reversed on appeal and after remand, the prosecution dropped the
case.
Too often, gurus like Moussallem learn some legal principle that
they turn into a business, too often with disastrous results.