Farrakhan praises Obama at Saviours' Day event in Chicago [Compares Obama to Mohammed]

Too bad we can’t use some of the following articles. Farrakhan has been hiding these items. They have not gone National. Anybody that can do something with these?

Lawyers: Charity ‘fraudulently’ sent cash to leader’s son
BY JOE CARLSON
jcarlson@nwitimes.com
219.662.5339 | Wednesday, February 20, 2008

HAMMOND | In new court records, lawyers for a Gary couple say preliminary evidence suggests the Chicago-based Nation of Islam has been “fraudulently transferring money” to the son of the organization’s leader.

Nasir Farrakhan, son of Nation of Islam spiritual leader Louis Farrakhan, owes Gary residents Gladys and Charles Peterson $350,000 for ramming their car on the Indiana Toll Road in 2003 and then fleeing the scene.

Nasir Farrakhan, 49, has said he is permanently unemployed and doesn’t have the money. Lawyers for Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam have said the $350 weekly cash payments to Nasir Farrakhan are untaxed “charity” between a father and son.

In a Feb. 14 court filing, the Petersons’ lawyers say they don’t believe they have gotten straight answers about the true nature of Nasir Farrakhan’s money and whether it is actually “income” that could legally be garnished to repay the debt.

For example, they question how a 49-year-old man who claimed to never hold a job in his life was in possession of a 4-inch-thick roll of bills from which to pay his rent in 2007, as witnessed by his then-landlord, Harriet Toma.

“Despite the claims of receiving ‘charity,’ Nasir Farrakhan was receiving compensation from the Nation of Islam for services provided; he was an employee,” the Petersons’ lawyers wrote. “The evidence certainly suggests that Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam have been fraudulently transferring money to Nasir Farrakhan under the guise of ‘charity.’”

Nation of Islam lawyers recently convinced U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Rodovich to close to the public a hearing next week at which Louis Farrakhan was scheduled to explain the nature of his finances and the payments to his son.

Peterson lawyer Michael Back said the hearing has been converted into a closed-door settlement conference, but another public hearing could be scheduled if a settlement is not reached.

A federal jury in 2006 ordered Nasir Farrakhan to pay the Petersons more than $800,000 for recklessly crashing into their Honda in the Hummer SUV he was driving at the time without a license. An insurance company already has paid everything but the $350,000 in punitive damages, which it is prohibited by law from paying.

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Louis Farrakhan ordered to court
BY JOE CARLSON
jcarlson@nwitimes.com
219.662.5339 | Thursday, December 27, 2007

HAMMOND | Minister Louis Farrakhan, the spiritual leader of the Chicago-based Nation of Islam, has been ordered to appear in Hammond federal court next month to explain why weekly cash stipends given to his 48-year-old son are not considered income.

It’s an issue because the son, Nasir Farrakhan, was ordered by a federal jury in Hammond last year to pay a Gary couple $350,000 in punitive damages for crashing his father’s Hummer into their car in 2003 on the Indiana Toll Road and then fleeing the scene.

Nasir Farrakhan has said he can’t pay the debt because he has no income, has never been employed and has no checking account or savings.

He argues the $1,400 in cash he receives from his father each month is legally considered “charity,” even though Nasir Farrakhan has acted as head of the minister’s 20-man security force for many years over the past several decades.

Attorneys for the Gary couple, Charles and Gladys Peterson, now are going after minister Farrakhan and the Nation itself for the money, arguing that Nasir Farrakhan is receiving income that can be garnished.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Magistrate Andrew Rodovich ordered Louis Farrakhan and a financial representative of the Nation of Islam to appear in court in Hammond on Jan. 24 to answer why they should not have to pay the judgment against Nasir Farrakhan.

“We will continue to pursue this through every avenue possible to ensure the Petersons are paid every penny they are owed,” attorney Michael Back said Friday.

An attorney for the Nation of Islam did not return a request for comment. No one from the organization has ever publicly commented to The Times on the jury verdict.

The Petersons were paid $100,000 in actual medical damages by an insurance company. But insurers do not have to cover punitive damages.

Back has said the issue of whether Nasir Farrakhan’s payments are charity or income could prove critical to the Nation of Islam because evidence indicates that other Nation workers are paid in the same arrangement.

If the money is deemed income, that could mean federal income taxes are owed by Nasir Farrakhan and the other workers.

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Is Farrakhan’s son a volunteer or employee?
BY JOE CARLSON
jcarlson@nwitimes.com
219.662.5339 | Monday, November 19, 2007

The legal battle over Nasir Farrakhan’s ill-fated 2003 car crash on the Indiana Toll Road has exposed practices by so-called volunteers for the Nation of Islam that could be considered tax fraud by the IRS, a certified public accountant says.

“You’ve got a potential for a massive fraud case here,” said Thomas Witherow, whose background includes audits of nonprofit groups and tax preparation for religious organizations and their employees. “You’re talking about a lot of people and a lot of money.”

Nasir Farrakhan is the son of Louis Farrakhan, the spiritual leader of the Chicago-based Nation of Islam. A northern Indiana judge has been asked to rule on whether Nasir Farrakhan is actually an employee of the religious organization as a Northwest Indiana couple attempts to collect a $350,000 civil judgement against him.

Attorneys for the Nation of Islam have not responded to several phone calls and e-mails from The Times seeking comment last week and in previous weeks.

Officials with the IRS would not speculate last week on Witherow’s observations or on several sworn depositions obtained by The Times, in which people who receive money from the Nation of Islam argue the payments are not taxable because the workers are legally considered volunteers.

Nasir Farrakhan found legal trouble in Indiana in 2003 when he twice rear-ended a Gary couple on the Indiana Toll Road and then fled the scene. A jury in 2006 assessed a $350,000 punitive damage award — which cannot be paid by an insurance company — against Nasir Farrakhan.

The 48-year-old said he does not have the means to pay because he is not employed and has never paid taxes because he has never been legally employed.

But in sworn depositions in 2005, Nasir Farrakhan said he has worked on and off as head of his father’s 20-man security force since 1985. More recently, he said during courtroom depositions in September of this year that his only money comes from weekly envelopes filled with $350 in “charity” cash delivered by his father’s couriers.

Two guards at the Farrakhan family compound in southwestern Michigan, Aaron Muhammad and Asmar Muhammad, also are quoted in sworn depositions as stating that Nasir Farrakhan was their supervisor and told them when to report to work. The guards also claimed they were not employed by the Nation of Islam but instead were volunteering their time — even though they received compensation.

“That is not employment,” Aaron Muhammad is quoted as telling attorney Michael Back in a March 4, 2006, deposition.

“Okay. What is that, sir?” Back said.

“What I do is, that’s charity. That’s volunteer. I volunteer for the Nation of Islam,” Aaron Muhammad said.

It’s not clear what section of federal code the security guards are relying on to avoid paying taxes on their $500 weekly payments.

Witherow, who has been retained by Back as an expert witness in the case, said a more important issue could be whether someone at the Nation is advising the guards not to report their income.

“It could be a major problem for the Nation of Islam (if) they’re telling their people it’s charity and they don’t have to report it,” Witherow said.

A 2007 IRS publication defines a taxable employee as a person who receives payments from an employer who has the right to control the details of how the worker performs services.

“If you have an employer-employee relationship, it makes no difference how it is labeled. The substance of the relationship, not the label, governs the worker’s status,” IRS publication 15-A states.

Although IRS rules force religious figures like priests to pay taxes on income, security guards for the Nation of Islam say in sworn statements they’re exempt from paying income taxes on their regular payments because they “volunteer” their time to the Chicago-based religious organization. A Northern Indiana federal judge has been asked to rule on whether such volunteers are actually employees.

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Gary couple target Nation of Islam
BY JOE CARLSON
jcarlson@nwitimes.com
219.662.5339 | Thursday, November 01, 2007

HAMMOND | A Gary couple who won a $350,000 lawsuit against the son of the leader of the Nation of Islam last year are going after the religious organization for the money because the son won’t pay.

But the issue could have much wider implications for the religious organization than just having to pay Nasir Farrakhan’s damages. He was found to have crashed into another car on the Indiana Toll Road and the fled the scene — all while under the influence of drugs — in 2003.

Michael Back, attorney for Gladys and Charles Peterson, said Wednesday the inquiry into Farrakhan’s refusal to pay the punitive damages awarded them in the accident has led to questions about why so many people do not pay taxes on the income they receive from the Nation of Islam.

“The testimony from guards, Nasir and (spiritual leader) Louis (Farrakhan) is that all these people get a charity, where they feel they don’t have to claim it as income,” Back said. “But our expert witness says clearly this is income, and these people must file tax returns.”

The Petersons filed motions this week to garnish Nasir Farrakhan’s “income” from Louis Farrakhan and the organization, but a federal judge will have to rule on whether Farrakhan is legally “employed” by the church.

The legal controversy comes at a rocky time for Nasir Farrakhan, who lost his lawyer after a Cook Circuit Court judge ruled his insurance company does not have to continue to pay a lawyer to defend him.

Nasir Farrakhan, 48, testified in a public deposition last month he has never paid income taxes and that all of his income comes from weekly cash payments delivered to him in envelopes by nation officials.

In court records, he said he is unable to pay the Petersons because he receives no income at all — just “charity” from the nation, which is not taxable.

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Farrakhan claims he has no income
BY JOE CARLSON
jcarlson@nwitimes.com
219.662.5339 | Friday, September 28, 2007

HAMMOND | Nasir Farrakhan, the 48-year-old son of the ailing spiritual leader of the Nation of Islam, said he has never used an automated teller machine, opened a checking account or paid income taxes.

“Have you been employed in this century?” Hammond attorney David Jensen asked Farrakhan in a court hearing Thursday.

“No,” Farrakhan said, adding later that he could not explain how his nine children are fed or housed, since he doesn’t financially support them or their four mothers.

Farrakhan was ordered by a federal jury last year to pay a Gary couple $350,000 in punitive damages for smashing into their car twice on the Indiana Toll Road in 2003. When police eventually caught him, he claimed not to remember the collision because he was sleeping.

Farrakhan has not paid any of the damages, claiming he has no income.

U.S. Magistrate Andrew Rodovich ordered Farrakhan to appear for a sworn courtroom interview with Jensen on Thursday to explain how it’s possible he doesn’t have income.

The envelope of $350 in cash he receives from his father, Minister Louis Farrakhan, every week is legally considered “charity,” he said.

Asked how he gets by without working, Nasir Farrakhan said he has often lived “like a gypsy,” crashing with friends who don’t charge him rent.

Jensen said it was clear the Nation of Islam was paying off the mothers of Nasir Farrakhan’s children, two of whom were born to different women within a four-month period 11 years ago.

“Some third party is taking care of these obligations. Mr. (Nasir) Farrakhan is a man who is not honoring any obligations,” Jensen said after the hearing.

Nasir Farrakhan’s lawyer, Kevin Kerr, who reported that his services are paid for by an insurance company, said there was nothing extraordinary about his client’s financial arrangement.

“His father is making a charitable payment to a son,” Kerr said. “It’s basically a gift from a father to a son.”

Jensen and co-counsel Michael Back said if the Nation of Islam is paying Nasir Farrakhan paternity obligations or any other actual income, those payments could make them a “garnishee defendant” for the purposes of the punitive damages Nasir Farrakhan owes.

Back said “someone” from the Nation of Islam is eventually going to have to answer why seemingly no one who is employed by the church pays income taxes.

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Farrakhan without job, money
BY JOE CARLSON
jcarlson@nwitimes.com
219.662.5339 | Monday, August 20, 2007

Nasir Farrakhan, son of the spiritual leader of the Nation of Islam, says he’s broke.

In recent court filings, Farrakhan says he has no job, bank accounts, assets, business interests or income of any kind other than occasional gifts from his father.

Farrakhan is scheduled to appear in court this morning to explain his answers.

The filing came in response to a request from the lawyers of a Gary couple who won a $350,000 punitive jury award against Farrakhan because the minister’s son crashed into their car in 2003, fled the scene and claimed after he was caught to have been asleep at the wheel.

U.S. District Judge Philip Simon last month ruled that Gladys and Charles Peterson presented ample evidence to support the jury’s decision to order Farrakhan to pay them punitive damages.

Farrakhan is appealing Simon’s ruling to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.

But in the meantime, the Petersons’ attorneys asked Farrakhan for a list of his assets because he had refused to pay the award.

In response, Farrakhan said he had no money. Asked to provide copies of all of his tax returns for the past 10 years, he wrote, “None” on the form.

“From time to time, I have received charity from my father. However, I have never and do not now keep track of the amount or frequency. I have no independent recollection of the amount or frequency,” Farrakhan wrote.

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Farrakhan’s son still owes $350,000
BY LAURI HARVEY KEAGLE
lkeagle@nwitimes.com
219.852.4311 | Saturday, July 28, 2007

HAMMOND | The son of Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan has not paid a court-ordered $350,000 to a Gary couple injured in a 2003 crash with him, attorneys for the couple said.

Gladys and Charles Peterson, through attorney David Jensen, filed papers in U.S. District Court in Hammond on Thursday seeking intervention by a judge in getting the money owed to them by Nasir Farrakhan.

A jury found Farrakhan was guilty of willful or wanton misconduct in October 2006 and ordered him to pay $350,000 in punitive damages. Farrakhan appealed, saying he should not have to pay the $350,000 because he was asleep at the wheel at the time of the accident.

If Farrakhan was sleeping at the time, the jury could not have ordered the payment.

He lost his appeal earlier this month.

Farrakhan borrowed his father’s Hummer SUV in May 2003, went to a party in Chicago and then drove to the family compound in New Buffalo, Mich., the following morning. While travelling on the Indiana Toll Road, he twice rear-ended the Peterson’s car then fled the scene.

Indiana State Police testified during the trial that Farrakhan passed a breath test, but the trooper believed Farrakhan was under the influence of a controlled substance. The trooper said Farrakhan claimed not to remember the crash, appeared to be under the influence, refused to take a drug test and had a bottle of Vicodin and drug paraphernalia in the Hummer.

The Petersons are seeking court intervention to determine if Farrakhan has any assets available that would satisfy the payment.

Attorneys for the Petersons believe he does, but Farrakhan said under oath he has no assets and no source of income other than “charity” he has received from time to time from his father.

The Petersons initially included Louis Farrakhan in their suit, alleging he was negligent in allowing his son to take the Hummer from the family compound. The Nation of Islam leader was later dropped from the case after it was determined the federal court had no jurisdiction over him.

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Judge: Farrakhan probably stoned during crash
BY JOE CARLSON
jcarlson@nwitimes.com
219.662.5339 | Tuesday, July 17, 2007

U.S. District Judge Philip Simon has ruled there is “ample evidence” that Nasir Farrakhan was high on drugs when he crashed into a Gary couple’s car on the Indiana Toll Road in 2003.

Farrakhan, who is the son of Nation of Islam spiritual leader Louis Farrakhan, had argued he should not have to pay $350,000 in punitive damages for the crash because he was asleep at the wheel at the time.

If Nasir Farrakhan was sleeping at the time, he could not have committed the “willful or wanton misconduct” that would trigger punitive damages. A jury disagreed, and punished him with $350,000 in such damages.

On appeal, the judge also disagreed with Farrakhan’s logic.

In May 2003, Farrakhan borrowed his father’s Hummer SUV, went to an all-night party in Chicago, and then drove home to New Buffalo, Mich., the next morning. On the return trip, he twice rear-ended the slow-moving car driven by Gladys and Charles Peterson and then fled the scene.

When Indiana State Trooper Peter Bradley pulled Farrakhan over later that morning, the minister’s son passed a Breathalyzer test, yet gave the trooper many reasons to believe he was under the influence of a controlled substance:

“(Farrakhan) refused to discuss or claimed to not remember the collision, he appeared to be in an impaired state when he spoke with Trooper Bradley, he was falling asleep, he refused to take a drug test, and he had a bottle of Vicodin and drug paraphernalia in the vehicle,” Simon wrote.

Michael Back, attorney for the Petersons, applauded Simon’s decision to keep the punitive damages award intact.

“His ruling backing up the jury is very good for the judicial system and the community so that wrongdoers can be punished,” Back said. “Hopefully this will deter other bad characters like Nasir Farrakhan from this type of conduct.”

The jury also ordered Farrakhan to pay $464,398 in compensatory damages, but his insurance company covered that cost.

Barring an appeal to Circuit Court, Simon’s ruling ends the four-year-old legal dispute because the Petersons have agreed not to pursue litigation against Louis Farrakhan or the Nation of Islam, Back said.

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Farrakhan balks at paying $350,000 to Gary couple
BY JOE CARLSON
jcarlson@nwitimes.com
219.662.5339 | Friday, March 02, 2007

HAMMOND | Though the auto insurance company for Nasir Farrakhan has paid a Gary couple $477,968 in damages for a crash four years ago, Farrakhan disputes that he should have to pay another $350,000 for punitive damages.

Farrakhan, the son of the spiritual leader of the Nation of Islam, was ordered by a federal jury last year to pay Gladys and Charles Peterson actual and punitive damages for maliciously smashing into their car on the Indiana Toll Road in Porter County in 2003.

Farrakhan is requesting a new trial on the punitive damages, though he admitted liability for actual damages because he caused the crash by falling asleep at the wheel after leaving an all-night party in Chicago.

He denies he should have to pay punitive damages because in Indiana, juries can only order such awards if the guilty party acted maliciously or with gross negligence. Falling asleep while driving was an accidental occurrence, Farrakhan argues in court records.

“Given Nasir Farrakhan’s attitude throughout the trial and post-trial, it doesn’t appear to me that he has learned his lesson. And that’s why we will pursue the punitive damages,” said Michael Back, an attorney for the Petersons.

Punitive damages cannot be paid by an insurance company, Back said.

The Petersons said Farrakhan - who was not licensed to drive at the time - crashed the Hummer SUV he was driving into their Honda twice in an apparent effort to get the slower-moving car to move aside so he could pass.

Farrakhan did not stop after the incident, but when he was pulled over in LaPorte County on his way to a Farrakhan home in New Buffalo, he appeared sleepy and under the influence of drugs, police testified.

Inside the Hummer, authorities found a bottle of the prescription painkiller Vicodin and a type of glass pipe commonly used for smoking crack that contained no drug residue, police testified.

Farrakhan’s attorneys have argued that items recovered in the car were irrelevant because the car belonged to his father. They said the jury may also have been prejudiced because his Muslim surname and affiliation with the Nation of Islam “is a source of prejudice in today’s post 9/11 climate.”

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Farrakhan son ordered to pay $800K
BY JOE CARLSON
jcarlson@nwitimes.com
219.662.5339 | Thursday, September 28, 2006

HAMMOND | A federal jury on Wednesday ordered Nasir Farrakhan to pay a Gary couple $814,399 for recklessly causing a traffic crash in 2003 that left a woman with chronic back and neck pain.

Farrakhan, who is the son of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, said he was asleep at the wheel when he twice crashed into the back of the car driven by Charles and Gladys Peterson on the Indiana Toll Road.

Nasir Farrakhan claimed he had accepted responsibility for causing the crash, but refused to pay Gladys Peterson’s medical bills because her neck and back pain existed well before the crash.

“The jury was not going to tolerate that kind of behavior, no matter who it is,” said Michael Back, the Petersons’ attorney. “It was a loud and clear message.”

After twice crashing into the Petersons’ compact car with the Hummer SUV he was driving, Nasir Farrakhan fled the scene and was arrested shortly after on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. His driver’s license had been revoked in 2001.

Although prescription drugs and drug paraphernalia were recovered from the Hummer, Nasir Farrakhan said he was just tired from a party in Chicago the night before.

Nasir Farrakhan was ordered to pay $464,398 in actual and future medical costs, and another $350,000 in punitive damages for his recklessness. David Jensen, the Petersons’ other attorney, had asked for at least $300,000 in punitive damages.

Back said the Farrakhans’ insurance would likely pay Wednesday’s judgment.

Nasir Farrakhan did not take the stand and offered no comment.

The Petersons originally named Louis Farrakhan in the case, because the minister owns the SUV his son crashed. Although the minister had forbidden his son from using the car, Back said the elder Farrakhan was still liable for leaving the keys out.

Louis Farrakhan was removed from the case because of jurisdictional issues.

Back said the Petersons are still trying to decide whether to re-file a lawsuit in Illinois.

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Suit against Nasir Farrakhan begins
BY JOE CARLSON
jcarlson@nwitimes.com
219.662.5339 | Tuesday, September 26, 2006

HAMMOND | Nasir Farrakhan says he was asleep at the wheel on the Indiana Toll Road in May 2003 when the Hummer SUV he was driving twice rammed into a compact car in front of him on the road.

In federal court Monday, defense attorney Shelice Robinson-Tolbert said Farrakhan has accepted responsibility for his poor driving that day but denies causing the extensive spinal injuries suffered by one of the passengers in the car he hit.

Charles and Gladys Peterson, of Gary, are seeking a “significant” amount of money in their civil lawsuit against Farrakhan because of the chronic pain Gladys Peterson now suffers, attorney David Jensen said in opening arguments Monday.

Nasir Farrakhan, 49, of Chicago, is the son of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. The Chicago spiritual leader owns the Hummer involved in the crash but had forbade his son to drive it because his driver’s license was revoked in 2001, court documents state.

The elder Farrakhan was originally named in the lawsuit but was removed for lack of jurisdiction. Late last week, the elder Farrakhan told his followers he is seriously ill and asked Nation of Islam’s executive board to take on his responsibilities in the organization.

The civil trial against Nasir Farrakhan in U.S. District Court in Hammond is expected to wrap up later this week. The Petersons are seeking at least $65,000 for medical expenses plus a large, undisclosed sum in punitive damages.

Gladys Peterson, 66, has chronic headaches and leg pain from the crash, which exacerbated spinal problems she had suffered for many years, Jensen said.

“Because of the force and trauma of the accident, Gladys was set up for much more pain and suffering than she would have been,” Jensen told the jury of five men and three women Monday. “She will have to live with this and receive pain treatment for the rest of her life.”

Robinson-Tolbert said Gladys Peterson’s doctor has records showing she had complained of the same kinds of pains before the crash that she now says were caused by Farrakhan.

The crash scenario is a familiar one: During heavy traffic on the Toll Road, a slower car in the left lane merges right to let a faster-moving vehicle by. But at the same time, the faster vehicle also merges right in an attempt to get around.

Instead of slowing down or changing lanes again, Farrakhan rammed the Peterson’s Honda Accord from behind, court documents allege. When the Petersons tried to pull over, Farrakhan rammed them again before driving away, the documents contend.

“My client had apparently been very tired, and he fell asleep while driving,” Robinson-Tolbert said. “He did not even know there was contact between the vehicles until he was pulled over.”

Farrakhan was originally charged with driving while intoxicated, but he eventually pleaded guilty to criminal recklessness and performed 90 hours of supervised community service.

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Judge sanctions son of Louis Farrakhan
BY JOE CARLSON
jcarlson@nwitimes.com
219.933.4174 | Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Nasir Farrakhan, the 45-year-old son of Nation of Islam spiritual leader Louis Farrakhan, has been ordered by a judge to pay a $4,052 legal bill for the Gary couple suing him.

The order was intended as punishment for Nasir Farrakhan, whose adversarial legal tactics wasted the time of the plaintiffs and the court, U.S. District Magistrate Andrew Rodovich ruled.

Three years after it was filed, the civil lawsuit still is mired in the pretrial discovery process because of the extensive number of motions, objections and appeals filed by the Farrakhans.

“Discovery abuses are not tolerated for very long in federal court,” Crown Point attorney Michael Back said. “The courts are very busy and don’t have time for motions that don’t have at least some merit.”

In order to encourage cooperation among parties during litigation, federal case law allows a judge to order the “loser” in pretrial motions to pay the legal bills of both sides.

Gladys and Charles Peterson, of Gary, sued Nasir Farrakhan in federal court after he rammed the back of their Honda with the Hummer SUV he was driving on the Indiana Toll Road in 2003. In 2004, Nasir Farrakhan pleaded guilty to criminal recklessness with a vehicle.

The Petersons also sued his father, Minister Louis Farrakhan, the legal owner of the SUV.

The minister said he had forbade his son from driving the Hummer because Nasir Farrakhan’s drivers license had been suspended for numerous speeding tickets.

The Petersons argued the minister was negligent in letting his son take the SUV from the Farrakhans’ farm in New Buffalo, Mich.

Last month, the minister was removed from the lawsuit because the federal court for the Northern District of Indiana did not have jurisdiction over him.

Back said the Petersons intend to re-file the case against the minister in Illinois

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