IRS NOT AMUSED AS 2 MEN FILED ALLEGED FALSE RETURNS.(Local)

Byline: Associated Press

Two Long Island men, angered by Internal Revenue Service letters demanding back taxes, were determined to get even with the government workers they held responsible, authorities said.

Instead, the pair got indicted.

Ronald Brennan, 45, of Elmont, and Michael Krause, 50, of Lynbrook, face up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine after they were charged this week with filing false income tax returns in 1989.

It was the latest incident in a battle between the agency and the two men, who allegedly mailed dozens of phony income statements to IRS workers. The idea was to cause tax return problems by distorting the workers' income.

The two men allegedly singled out the workers who had signed letters sent to them in 1987 and 1988 asking for payment of back taxes. They then mailed each one IRS 1099 forms claiming the workers had received multi-million salaries last year, officials said.

The director of the Brookhaven IRS Center, Bob Hughes, received a form saying he was paid $3 million.

The pair also filed papers indicating they had overpaid the IRS several million dollars in taxes and they were seeking a refund, authorities said.

The IRS was not amused.