Man charged in IRS bribe scheme

Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008

By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

A Hickory trucking company president has been charged with trying to bribe an Internal Revenue Service agent to reduce his tax liability.

Dan Iosif Kalman Baciu, who is known as Dan Kalman, was arrested Wednesday at his Hickory home and charged with two counts of bribery and two counts of paying an illegal gratuity to an IRS agent, said Suellen Pierce of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The sealed indictment was filed in Charlotte's U.S. District Court on Jan. 24.
The IRS performed an audit of 40-year-old Kalman Baciu's 2005 federal income tax return and his reporting of income at his company, DNK Trucking, according to the Department of Justice.

The indictment claims Kalman Baciu, in his first meeting with IRS officials, handed an agent a cash-filled envelope, which she refused. In a subsequent meeting, the indictment alleges, Kalman Baciu handed the IRS agent an envelope with $10,000 cash in it to persuade her to reduce his tax liability by $55,000 for the 2005 tax year, according to the Department of Justice.

Kalman Baciu could face up to 30 years in prison and a $500,000 if convicted on all counts.

He was released Thursday on a $50,000 bond, and his next court date has not be scheduled, Pierce said.

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