Telecom Mogul Guilty of Tax Scam

Even during yesterday's hearing, Anderson could be overheard complaining about prosecutors to his attorneys. But he turned down an opportunity to address the court, telling the judge, "I'll probably have a lot to say at the sentencing hearing."

Anderson grew up in Silver Spring and graduated in 1971 from W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax. He was one of the original employees of MCI Corp. and founded a series of telecommunications companies, including Mid Atlantic Telecom Inc., Esprit Telecom Group PLC and Telco Communications Group Inc., which he sold for huge profits.

According to prosecutors, Anderson invented a detailed web of financial schemes designed to hide $450 million he made from business ventures from 1995 and 1999. He formed Gold & Appel in the British Virgin Islands and used the alias Mark Roth to hire a third party to form Iceberg Transport in Panama. He used other measures to conceal his ownership and control of these entities. He then transferred ownership of his telecom companies to offshore companies.

He did not disclose his ownership interest or income from the companies on his federal or D.C. tax forms, prosecutors said.

Anderson used some of his money to indulge his passion for private space exploration. He was an investor in a group that tried to privatize the aging Mir space station. In 1997, he founded an organization that issued grants for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, the tracking of near-Earth asteroids and plans for a human outpost on the moon.

Anderson has said the money is gone and so are the days of private jets, 19,000-square-foot mansions and original paintings by Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte. But prosecutors doubt that Anderson's pockets are empty.

"There is enough evidence that there is money out there," Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan B. Menzer said. "There are people willing to help him."

This much was clear yesterday: Anderson can afford to pay a special assessment levied by the court. He agreed to turn over $200 within 10 days of his sentencing.