Imagine coming home one night to find your home has been broken into, and your cars, and a good deal of personal property, are gone.

    And you can't really call the police because they supervised the raid.

    That's the story one Minnesota man tells after state revenue agents seized his house, a North Oaks property worth some $2 to $3 million dollars.

    KARE-11's Rick Kupchella investigated the story. The following is based on his report.

   
On Tuesday, Kupchella revealed how the Minnesota Department of Revenue has been increasing collections billing tens of thousands of Minnesotans for money the state says they owe.

    The state has been using many methods to collect. They can seize your bank accounts, garnish wages and, in some cases, they can even take your house.

   

A KARE 11 crew watched as the Revenue Department, with the help of police and other agencies moved in to collect at a North Oaks home. The department has spent about two years fighting with the homeowner over a tax bill. On this day, they plan to collect.

    They show up unannounced. Finding nobody home, they call a locksmith. Hearing a dog, they call animal control. And once the place is 'secure'… they call in the tow trucks & movers.

    Looking on from the street and from a helicopter, the KARE crew watches as agents remove silver, cars, guns, and money. Then they place a big red sticker on the door declaring this house their own.

    "This is not our preferred way of collecting money. We prefer people to pay it on their own," said Lynn Willenbring of the Minnesota Department of Revenue. "But sometimes it takes this level of enforcement action before we get their attention."

    Willenbring laid out her case, telling how the state started with audits and letter-writing to persuade the taxpayer he owed Minnesota something more.

    It started with about a $400,000 claim with interest and penalties. It is now nearly doubled in the $800,000 range.

    "And it hasn't been paid. They haven't indicated they're willing to take responsibility and pay it. That's why we're here," Willenbring said.

    This house belongs to Robert Beale. He's sixty, and successful, claiming he's worth about $20 million.

    The MIT engineering grad made his millions in computers and television. He's also a founder of the Minnesota Christian Coalition.

    He says it's the sale of channel 23 that led to so much trouble with the state. He sold channel 23 in 1998 — his personal take - $4- million.

    Minnesota's capital gains would have been about a half million dollars if he lived here. He maintains, he does not.

    Beale says his house at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in state-tax-free Florida has been home since 1997.

    "There's a club down here in Naples called the Minnesota club. It has 500 members. Some of them are the most famous people in Minnesota," Beale says. "It's a standard practice by many many people to establish residency in Florida before you sell your business. And that's exactly what I did.

    Beale and the state of Minnesota disagree on just about everything.

    He says he knew he was in trouble the moment a state auditor sent him a 'voluntary' questionnaire.

    "I'm reading this questionnaire, and it says the information is not legally required — so why should I go through all this work?" Beale says, adding that the form said "if you don't give us the information… we will just assume you're a resident and send you a bill."

    Beale says he thought that was unfair and he talked to the auditor.

    "You're accusing me of being guilty of something and making me prove that I'm not. And he said, 'well, that's the way it works.'"

    Beale say he countered with, "We'll see."

    And so the standoff began. Beale claims the Revenue Department is violating a basic tenet of the Constitution.

    "They're not allowed to make you prove your innocence — according to the Constitution. If they want to make a claim against you, they have to come up with the proof," Beale says. "They have to do the investigation. I know they have regulations that say otherwise, but they're not constitutional."

    Beale is demanding a trial by jury. He wanted one before they seized his Minnesota property. He'll get it now, only after the fact, because he's bringing the lawsuit to get his stuff back.

    "When you become successful in life and you're sixty years old, which I am, these are the kinds of challenges you look for especially if you're a Christian," Beale says. "I believe the constitution came from a Christian culture… and it's only Christians that can defend it. And Christians have an obligation to defend it. This is what God wants me to do."

    Beale goes to court this week in an effort to keep the department of revenue from selling his stuff. He says he'll hire lawyers to advise him, but he'll represent himself in court.

    "You don't get to where you've gotten —professionally, personally —without some degree of street smarts," Kupchella asked.

    "Yeah."

    "And you're going to go in here, to court, without a lawyer — arguing constitutional law with an engineering degree. It would strike me as imminently lose-able," Kupchella asked.

    "It's going to be a surprise," Beale says. "You are going to be surprised."

    Beale says he will abide by the rulings of the district court judge, unless he or she doesn't follow the law in which case he will sue that judge, too. He suspects that will be necessary.

    For the record, Beale had many opportunities to appeal the tax levy to the state tax court before the seizure, but he refused. He says that court violates the separation of the judicial and executive branches of government, so it's also unconstitutional.

    (Copyright 2003 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)