Online Tax Fraud

The Justice Department's interest in Oswald's tax forms and its development of an unnamed "liason" in the IRS began on the same day President Kennedy was assassinated. An undated memo from the IRS to the Treasury Department states, "Since November 22, 1963, our Intelligence Division has been cooperating with the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the Department of Justice by furnishing copies of income tax returns filed by Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby and other related taxpayers." According to the memo, the IRS could have handed over Oswald's tax returns to the FBI as early as November 22.

The chief of the IRS Intelligence Division for the Dallas district furnished the FBI with information on Lee Harvey Oswald's tax returns on November 25, 1963, but the Bureau's interest was focused on returns held in New Orleans, where Oswald worked as a teenager. A November 27, 1963 FBI memo from Hoover to SAC Dallas and SAC New Orleans stated: "IRS NO (New Orleans) is holding copies of returns which may be of interest. Review returns by contacting Inspector Aubrey Fondell, IRS, Post of Duty, Three Three Seven, Federal Office Building, Six Zero Zero South Street, NO." No followup FBI report or memo regarding these New Orleans documents has ever been located.

Officially, the FBI obtained some of "Lee Harvey Oswald's" tax returns from the IRS on December 16, 1963--two days before the Warren Commission requested them from the FBI. Warren Commissioners routinely sought tax information for many persons associated with the assassination and its aftermath directly from the IRS. For reasons now becoming increasingly clear, the FBI involved itself in Oswald's taxes before the Warren Commission was even created, and commissioners allowed the FBI to act on their behalf in the matter of Oswald's taxes.

The FBI could have had Oswald's tax returns as early as November 22, six weeks before Hoover forwarded photostatic copies of the 1956, 1958 and 1962 returns to J. Lee Rankin of the Warren Commission on January 6 of the following year. From John Armstrong's Harvey and Lee manuscript:

The FBI should have requested Oswald’s income tax returns with a dated letter to the Comissioner of the IRS. The IRS should have responded by sending the returns along with a dated letter of transmittal which described the tax returns. The FBI should then have confirmed receipt of the returns with a dated letter to the IRS. But none of these letters have been found and without these letters neither the date the returns were sent to the FBI nor a description of the returns provided to the FBI is known. If any of these letters existed, they have long since disappeared.

NOTE: With no letter of transmittal, the name of the IRS employee who obtained the returns and provided them to the FBI is unknown. This person could never be interviewed and asked to describe the returns given to the FBI.

It is possible that an FBI official was dispatched to IRS offices and personally obtained Oswald’s returns. In this case there never would have been any written documentation that described the returns

Without documentation we can only assume that the FBI secured originals of all returns filed by Oswald. Oswald was employed and should have filed income tax returns for six years--1955 through 1959 and 1962. After the returns were secured, they were examined by FBI personnel to see if the earnings as reported conflicted with Oswald’s known schooling, employment, or military service. If conflicts were found, which suggested that Oswald was in two places at the same time, then some or all of the returns would have to be altered or destroyed.

Oswald's tax returns were in the custody of the FBI for several weeks following the assassination. On December 17, 1963, the General Counsel to the Warren Commission, J. Lee Rankin, requested that the FBI "obtain income tax returns dating back to 1955 relative to Lee Harvey Oswald." At the time Rankin made his request, he was probably not aware the returns were already in FBI custody. The FBI held onto Oswald’s returns for another three weeks before providing the Commission with photostatic copies of them.

--John Armstrong, 2000

None of Lee Harvey Oswald's tax forms have ever been officially released to the public by our government, but digitized images allegedly representative of the photostatic copies now in the National Archives began appearing on the internet in the late 1990s. John explains in his manuscript:

On December 2, 1978, Marina Oswald Porter gave the HSCA authorization to obtain the tax returns of Lee Harvey Oswald from the IRS. On December 19, the IRS wrote to the HSCA and informed them, "attached are copies of tax return information of Lee Harvey Oswald. The material consists of copies of income tax returns for the years 1956, 1958, 1959, and 1962... the originals of which remain in the custody of the National Archives." But the National Archives does not have any original tax returns--they have only photostatic copies given to them by the Warren Commission.

NOTE: The IRS provided the HSCA with copies of Oswald's tax returns from their archives. The IRS incorrectly informed the HSCA that the original tax returns were in the custody of the National Archives. The IRS may have thought Oswald's original tax returns were at the National Archives, but they were wrong. The National Archives received photostats from the Warren Commission that were provided to them by the FBI.

On May 31, 1996, David G. Marwell of the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB) wrote to Marina and enclosed a "Consent to Disclosure of Tax Information" of Lee Harvey Oswald. Marina ignored the request and other requests from the ARRB to release tax information. In September 1996, Marina discussed the release of tax information to the ARRB. Marina said, "I have no problem releasing my tax records, and I will agree to have them released to journalists who will publish them." Six months later, on March 5, 1997, Marina Oswald Porter signed a "Consent to Disclosure of Tax Information" for the release of income tax returns to journalists Ray and Mary LaFontaine. Those "records", the source of which is unknown (presumably the IRS) and the authenticity of which has not been verified (they are only copies--no originals have ever been located), have gotten into the hands of researchers and some are even posted on the internet.

--John Armstrong, 2000

Current Status of "Oswald" Tax Returns from the 1950s

Assuming (without much evidence) that the tax returns currently distributed by Marina Oswald Porter match the photocopies now said to be at the National Archives, here is the current sorry state of returns allegedly signed by "Lee Harvey Oswald" prior to the 1959 "defection":

Oswald's IRS return for 1959, the year of the so-called "defection," was allegedly filled out and filed by "Marguerite Oswald" on March 22, 1960 on behalf of her "son." Of the tax returns supposedly filed by "Lee Harvey Oswald" before his 1959 "defection" to the Soviet Union, only the 1956 form is available for analysis.

Evidence that Oswald's 1956 Return Was Altered

Below is a graphic of the 1956 return for "Lee Harvey Oswald" that may be identical to the photostatic copy now said to be in the National Archives:

There are many problems with this document, as there are with all the so-called unofficial tax returns for Lee Harvey Oswald, except for 1962.

According to the date stamp barely legible near the middle of line 12 on the return above, the IRS office in Dallas received and marked the document on February 8, 1957. This is remarkably fast delivery and processing for a return allegedly signed at Camp Pendleton, California, just one day earlier. See the previous page on this site for evidence that Oswald was not employed by Pfisterer Dental Lab (the first entry under line 5 above) in 1956.

The third hand-written entry under line 5 above reads as follows: "J. R. Michels Jr--805 American Bank Bldg--N.O. La." Unfortunately for whoever forged this document while it was in FBI custody in January 1964, this is not the correct address for the import-export firm of J.R. Michels. It is, in fact, the address of the company's accountant. It is easy to see how the mistake was made.

The following excerpt from a Secret Service report dated December 17, 1963 (file # CO-2-34,030) provides the correct address for J.R. Michels in 1963 as well as 1956.

J.R. Michels, Jr. was located in the Sanlin Building in New Orleans, at 442 Canal St., not at the American Bank Building. How did the latter address turn up on Oswald's alleged tax return?

In the mid-1990s, John Armstrong interviewed Nicholas Mazza, the man who, according to the Secret Service report above, could not "recall anything about Oswald." From Mr. Armstrong's manuscript:

I contacted Nick Mazza, the former manager of J. R. Michels in 1956 and asked him about Oswald. Nick was very helpful and told me neither he nor any former employees of J.R. Michels remembered Oswald. Nick had one item which had saved from 1963--a copy of a payroll check issued to Oswald. He sent me a copy of J. R. Michels check #21499, which had been issued to "Lee Oswald" in the amount of $34.20 on January 20, 1956.

I asked if the company had an employment file for Oswald, a W-4 form, employment application, payroll records, quarterly withholding tax filings, year end W-2 forms, etc. Nick said the cancelled check was the only document he had ever seen relating to Oswald.

In additional conversation with John Armstrong, Mr. Mazza reiterated that neither he nor anyone else at J.R. Michels had any recollection of "Lee Harvey Oswald" working at their firm. But he certainly recalled the visit by the FBI immediately after the assassination. During the interview, Mazza insisted Oswald had not worked there, but he was urged by the FBI agents to examine his files. To his amazement, he found the following cancelled check, which he photocopied before handing over to the Bureau.

This check, like others issued by J.R. Michels, Jr., listed the address of the company's accounting firm in the American Bank Building in New Orleans. But that was not the actual location of J.R. Michels' offices, which were housed in the Sanlin Building. Is it possible that Oswald made a simple error and listed the address that appeared on his check? Not likely. J.R. Michels offices were located in the same building as the office of Oswald's previous employer, Gerard Tujague (the second entry under line 5 in the 1956 IRS return above). How likely is it that the future alleged assassin would forget that he had worked for two different employers during the same year in the very same building?

Whoever forged the 1956 tax return while it was in FBI possession in early 1964 made a simple but quite understandable error. The accounting firm's address, which appeared on J.R. Michels' checks, was confused with the employer's actual location, where messenger boys such as Oswald would frequently report for duty. Ooops!

Beyond these questions about the validity of the 1956 tax return, there is a far more glaring omission. According to page 11 of the Warren Report, Lee Harvey Oswald "enlisted in the Marine Corps on October 24, 1956, 6 days after his 17th birthday." Oswald remained on active Marine Corps duty until his discharge in 1959.

Why then is there no indication of Oswald's USMC earnings on his so-called 1956 tax return? When he supposedly filled out this bogus form, he was a member of the United States Marine Corps. His 1956 Marine Corps earnings would have represented the second highest pay for any employer that year. Did he forget?

As most veterans will attest, it is U.S. Armed Forces policy to strongly encourage their employees to obey American tax laws. Many sailors report that their branch of the Service assisted them in completing their tax forms. Why didn't Lee Harvey Oswald report his Marine Corps earnings on his 1956 tax return?

In his massive new book about the two Oswalds, John Armstrong explains how forged documents were just part of the strategy used to hide the fact that two American intelligence agents sharing the same identity became entangled in the plot to assassinate President John F. Kennedy. The book explains many enduring mysteries, including the forged tax forms for "Lee Harvey Oswald." From Mr. Armstrong's Harvey and Lee manuscript:

The first of those returns, for 1956, did not list any income from Oswald's service in the U.S. Marine Corps. Why not? Because this return was altered. The individuals within the FBI who altered the return, in early January, 1964, did not yet know Oswald's 1956 Marine Corps income. That information was first made available from the Department of the Navy eight months later--on September 15, 1964.

Why Was the 1956 Tax Return Altered?

From Mr. Armstrong's Harvey and Lee manuscript:

While in FBI custody each of Oswald's tax returns from the 1950s was altered, destroyed, or withheld--each for a different reason. To understand which of the returns were altered and why you must first understand Harvey and Lee's schooling, employment, and military service from 1955 through 1959. Below is a summary of Harvey and Lee's activities on a year-by-year basis, followed by an explanation of why and how each return was altered.

(. . . . )

1956

1956 was the last year of "Lee Harvey Oswald's" employment prior to joining the Marines in October. While Lee worked full time at Tujague's from July 1955 through June 1956, Harvey worked briefly for JR Michels. Income from Tujague's, if properly reported on Oswald's 1956 return, would show that Lee worked full time at Tujague's, which allowed no time for any other full-time employment. Lee and Harvey's overlapping employment--Tujague's/JR Michels--presented problems for the FBI, which required alterations to his 1956 tax return.

Oswald's overlapping Tujague's/JA Michels employment was minor--the major conflict was the November 23, 1963 statement of Palmer E. McBride. McBride had worked with Harvey Oswald every day for 8 months in 1957 and 1958 at the Pfisterer Dental Lab in New Orleans while at the same time Lee Oswald was in the Marines in Japan. They had the same work hours, visited each other's homes where they listened to records, double dated, attended meetings of the New Orleans Amateur Astronomy Association and often argued about Communism. McBride's statement, left unchallenged, threatened to expose "Lee Harvey Oswald's" dual identity and lead investigators to the agency who created them--the CIA. The FBI had two choices: either conduct a proper investigation and fully disclose its findings or ignore McBride and attempt to secure, alter, destroy or manipulate any records relating to the two Oswalds. Unfortunately, for history and the public, they chose to participate in what was perhaps the single most important cover-up in this nation's history.

McBride's statement to the FBI on November 23rd resulted in the FBI's visit to the Pfisterer Dental Lab, where they confiscated Oswald's employment records and warned each of Pfisterer's owners not to discuss the Oswald matter among themselves or with anyone else. Palmer McBride was never interviewed a second time and the Hotel Senator, where McBride said Oswald and his mother had lived, received a cursory visit from FBI agents. Instead of asking for 1957 and 1958 registration records, the years during which Harvey and Marguerite resided at the hotel, the FBI agents specifically asked for and reviewed records for the year 1956. The agents' report stated: "he (the hotel manager) made available the entire collection of registration cards for the year 1956, which were reviewed under the names of Oswald and Hidell, with negative results."

With the Pfisterer employment records in their possession and the 1957-58 registration records from the Hotel Senator avoided, the FBI turned its attention to government records of Oswald's 1957-58 employment history. On November 23, 1963, McBride had given a statement to both the FBI and Air Force Intelligence officers. The FBI could easily make McBride's statement to the FBl--and his references to 1957-58--disappear, but McBride's handwritten statement, provided to both the FBI and Air Force Intelligence officers, could not be ignored.

A plan was needed to challenge McBride's statement and hide Harvey's 1957-58 employment in New Orleans (while Lee was in Japan) and his employment at JR Michels (while Lee worked at Tujague's). The only time frame available for a single "Lee Harvey Oswald" to have worked at Tujague's, JR Michels and Pfisterer's was from November, 1955 (when school records showed Oswald dropped out of Warren Easton High in New Orleans) to July, 1956 (when landlord records showed Marguerite was living in Ft. Worth). The employment problem was resolved when the FBI alleged that one person, "Lee Harvey Oswald," had worked for all three New Orleans companies in 1956--first at Tujague's, then JR Michels, and finally the Pfisterer Dental Lab--prior to moving to Ft. Worth and joining the Marines. The problem for the FBI was that employment and income tax records did not agree with the newly created story. The FBI could easily manipulate, alter, and destroy government records, but their ability to manipulate the records of private companies was limited.

NOTE: It is important for researchers and readers of this book to understand that there are no verifiable employment records for any of Oswald's employment in New Orleans from 1955 through 1958--not one single item. The Tujague records consist of handwritten payroll records. The JR Michels records consist of one cancelled check. There are no records whatsoever from the Pfisterer Dental Lab.

NOTE: The FBI could have easily conducted a thorough investigation of Oswald's employment at Tujague's, JR Michels and Pfisterer's by obtaining Form 941 from the IRS, which listed employees withholding taxes on a quarterly basis. They could have provided the Warren Commission and the public with Oswald's cancelled payroll checks from Tujague's or payroll vouchers from Pfisterer's--items that they had confiscated. But a thorough investigation would have exposed the two Oswalds. The FBI's strategy was to merge the employment histories of Harvey and Lee together into a single "Lee Harvey Oswald." To do this required "material alteration and in some cases omission" of employment and tax records.

The FBI "developed" Oswald's 1956 employment history by creating a 1956 W-2 form (withholding statement) for Tujague's which showed that Oswald worked only two weeks at Tujague's in early 1956. His earnings were shown as $80.46, which was then listed on Oswald's 1956 tax return.

A 1956 W-2 form for JR Michels was also created, which showed that Oswald worked two weeks at JR Michels--following his employment at Tujague's. His earnings were shown as $80 and listed on his 1956 tax return.

NOTE: FBI agents had obtained a payroll check written to Oswald by the JR Michels Company. The address listed on the check for JR Michels was 507 American Bank Building. This was not the address for JR Michels--it was the address of the company's accountant. JR Michels' offices were in the Sanlin Building on Canal Street, one floor below the offices of Gerard Tujague, Inc. The Washington, DC, FBI employee(s) who created the JR Michels W-2 form unwittingly used the address on Oswald's payroll check--507 American Bank Building. This incorrect address was also listed on Oswald's 1956 income tax return.

To complete the merging of Harvey and Lee's employment history, the FBI "shifted" Oswald's employment at the Pfisterer Dental Laboratory from 1957-58 to 1956. They created a year-end W-2 form that showed that Oswald worked at Pfisterer's in 1956. His earnings were shown as $612 and listed on his 1956 tax return. With Pfisterer employment records confiscated, Pfisterer owners told "not to discuss the Oswald matter with anyone," Palmer McBride ignored, and a newly created 1956 W-2 form and income tax return, who could challenge the FBI?

NOTE: The FBI had obtained Oswald's income tax returns from the IRS following the assassination. After the returns were altered, photostatic copies were sent to the Warren Commission. The newly created W-2 forms, however, had to be planted among Oswald's possessions and officially inventoried by the Dallas Police. The problem for the FBI was that Dallas Police had not found these items.

The Dallas Police had conducted a thorough search of Oswald's rooming house and the Paine residence in Irving, Texas, where they confiscated more than a hundred items of evidence. They established a chain of custody by initialing and dating each item they confiscated and then they listed each item as inventory. No W-2 forms were found by the Dallas Police, initialed by the Dallas Police, or listed on the original inventories. These original inventories were published in the Warren Commission volumes as Turner #1, Stovall A, and Stovall B.

All items of evidence gathered by the Dallas Police were secretly flown to Washington, DC, on November 23. It was at FBI headquarters that the newly created W-2 forms, as well as many other items, were planted among the items of evidence. When the evidence was returned to Dallas on November 26, all items were jointly inventoried by the FBI and Dallas Police and photographed.

NOTE: Approximately 140 items were listed on the original Dallas Police inventories of November 22nd and 23rd. When these items were returned to the Dallas Police on November 26th, the number of items listed on the joint Dallas Police/FBI inventory totaled 455 items. Anyone can compare the original inventory lists (Turner #1, Stovall A, and Stovall B) with the Joint Dallas Police/FBI inventory of November 28th (CE 2003). Additional items, such as the W-2 forms, were added to the inventory in order to help frame Oswald and hide his background.

The newly created W-2 forms appear for the first time on the joint FBI/Dallas Police inventory of November 26 as items #168, 169, and 174 (CE 2003). None of the W-2 forms bear the initials of Dallas Police officers or the dates they were acquired. The only initials on any of these W-2 forms are from FBI Lab Technician Robert Frazier, who worked at FBI headquarters in Washington, DC. All items of evidence, including the W-2 forms, were photographed at Dallas Police headquarters. The Police then handed over their undeveloped 35-mm film to the FBI and requested that the FBI develop the film and return photographs to the Dallas Police. A few days later the FBI developed the film and sent photographs of only half of the items of evidence to the Dallas Police.

The FBI claimed that some of the items of evidence were not properly photographed because the Dallas Police had used "faulty technique." Missing were photographs of the W-2 forms. The FBI informed the Dallas Police they would "re-photograph" the missing items and provide photographs to the Dallas Police. Photographs of the missing items, including the W-2 forms, were not sent to the Dallas Police for two months--in February 1964. Inspection of the photographs and the W-2 forms at the National Archives reveal no initials or dates by Dallas Police officers.

NOTE: All employer and employee information on the 1955 and 1956 W-2 forms for Dolly Shoe, Tujague's and Pfisterer's was, in opinion of IBM archivist Dawn Stanford, typed with the same typewriter. Clearly, the W-2 forms are forgeries, and were created during the time Oswald's possessions were in the custody of the FBI. The FBI's creation of 1956 W-2 forms and its alteration of his 1956 income tax return became important parts of the cover-up, effectively merging the employment histories of two different young men-Harvey and Lee Oswald.

At this point some researchers might ask, "Why didn't the FBI simply claim that the 1956 return had been destroyed, as they had with the 1955 return, or merely ignore the 1956 return altogether, as they did with the 1957 return? After all, the FBI would then eliminate the need to create the W-2 forms and to alter the 1956 tax return."

The answer is critical. The 1956 W-2 forms and tax return were needed to help refute McBride's claim that he had worked with Oswald at Pfisterer's in 1957 and 1958. What better "proof" than W-2 forms and Oswald income tax returns to show that McBride was "mistaken" when he claimed that Oswald had worked at Pfisterer's in 1957-58?

The W-2 forms and tax return also helped "prove" that a single "Lee Harvey Oswald" worked first at Tujague's and then at J. A. Michels.

After Oswald's 1956 tax return was altered, photostatic copies--not originals--were provided to the Warren Commission on January 6, 1964. However, in its over zealous efforts to resolve Harvey and Lee's overlapping employments and to refute the statements of Palmer McBride, the FBI failed to include Oswald's 1956 income from the Marine Corps. This was not a mere oversight by the ever-efficient FBI. There was simply no other choice. When the FBI provided copies of Oswald's tax returns to the Warren Commission, on January 6, 1964, Oswald's 1956 Marine Corps income was intentionally omitted, because payroll information from the Marine Corps was not yet available.

NOTE: The Department of the Navy did not provide Oswald's certified payroll records to the Warren Commission until September 15, 1964. The Navy listed Oswald's gross income from the Marine Corps in 1956 as $111.00.

NOTE: The 1956 tax return shows that Oswald should have received a refund in the amount of $64.70. The FBI never obtained a copy of this cancelled check. The reason? The amount of the refund due Oswald as listed on his original, unaltered 1956 return would not match the $64.70 refund amount indicated on the FBI-altered 1956 return.

--John Armstrong, 2000

Here's a question to ask the next time anyone says that the Warren Commission got it right, that "Lee Harvey Oswald" was just a maladjusted loner with no ties to American intelligence agencies....

Why was it necessary to hide Oswald's true tax records dating back to his teenaged years? What possible reason could exist?

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