United States v. James E. Rasmussen

ROSS, Circuit Judge.

Appellee, James E. Rasmussen, was indicted on five counts of income tax evasion, 26 U.S.C. § 7201 (1982), for his alleged failure to declare a total of $105,000 in taxable income for tax years 1978-82. Appellee owns Jensen Construction Company, an Iowa firm which constructs bridges. The government sought to establish that the $105,000 unreported on appellee’s income tax returns represented illegal kickbacks or bribes in a bid-rigging scheme between appellee and a subcontractor, Drossos Tiliakos. Tiliakos is the president and majority shareholder of J & N Industrial…