Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 2, 1994 TAG: 9408020116
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Instead of facing criminal charges filed by the government, he was there for a civil suit he filed against the government.
The lawyer asked U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser to uphold his lawsuit to bar an Internal Revenue Service claim on money he had given his wife.
Selbe argued the case for summary judgment himself, saying he could not afford an attorney.
``I'm not here by design; I'm not here by desire,'' he told the judge. ``I guess I'm here out of necessity.''
At issue in the case is a $350,000 note - which has a $300,000 balance - that Selbe assigned to his wife, Victoria, following the sale of his $850,000 South Roanoke home in December 1990.
Selbe contends that he assigned the note to his wife to satisfy a 1985 prenuptial agreement. The government claims the move was to illegally shield the note from claims by the IRS and the court.
A federal jury in 1992 convicted Selbe of criminal charges of trying to conceal the note from a probation and parole officer, but that ruling was overturned by Kiser and upheld by the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Selbe said his next goal is to get the $350,000 note returned to his wife.
Kiser took the suit under advisement and will file a written decision, but Selbe said the issue will not be decided until a separate suit Victoria Selbe filed to gain control of the note is settled.
A trial date for that case has not been set.
by CNB