No IRS charges for pair in tax case

Women are daughters of race car driver Bill Whittington, who pleaded guilty

The federal government has agreed not to prosecute two prominent Albuquerque businesswomen in an Internal Revenue Service criminal investigation that led to a guilty plea from their father, a former race car driver.

Nerissa Whittington and Keely Whittington are the owners of Albuquerque-based Gulfstream Worldwide Realty and bigbyte.cc, a co-location data center. The pair also own The Springs Resort and Spa in Pagosa Springs, Colo., among other business interests.

In a statement, the Whittington sisters said they

were “pleased but not surprised” at the outcome and said there were no charges filed against them. The plea deal has not been signed by a judge.

The Whittingtons emphasized that their father “does not own and has never had any financial stake in their corporations.”

Documents filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Denver show the government, as part of the plea deal, has agreed to “neither prosecute nor pursue forfeiture of the assets of” Nerissa Whittington and Keely Whittington, or their mother, Patricia Whittington.

The documents do not show that any charges were filed against the three women.

As part of the same investigation, the father of the Whittington sisters, Bill Whittington, filed a guilty plea for submitting a false federal income tax return in 2010.

Bill Whittington raced in the Indianapolis 500 and teamed up with his brother, Don Whittington, and a third driver to win France’s 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1979.

The brothers also made headlines in the 1980s for what prosecutors alleged was a multimillion-dollar marijuana-smuggling enterprise that funded their racing careers, a case that resulted in prison time for both of them.

An attorney for Bill Whittington has not responded to a request for comment. An individual who answered the phone at a business owned by Don Whittington said he was unavailable for comment Friday.

An IRS spokesperson said the agency isn’t permitted to discuss tax matters related to a specific individual.

According to the filings, the government claims that between 2010 and 2012, Bill Whittington directed The Springs Resort to pay many of his personal expenses and did not report those activities on his tax return.

In his plea deal, Whittington agreed that not reporting those activities had led to an underpayment of his taxes of $364,994. Combined with other unreported income, including investments held in bank accounts in Liechtenstein, the government’s total tax loss was estimated at $1.8million, according to the plea agreement.

Bill Whittington will be sentenced on Oct. 9. He faces up to three years in prison and more than $250,000 in fines, among other penalties.

The spokesman for Nerissa Whittington and Keely Whittington referred questions about the personal expenses paid by The Springs to the U.S. Department of Justice, which did not respond to a request for comment. A press release from the department characterized Bill Whittington as a “resort operator.”

The case first received national attention in late 2013, when the Drug Enforcement Administration filed a search warrant and affidavit in federal court.

Those documents contained allegations that Bill Whittington, Don Whittington and others had leased jets to members of drug-trafficking organizations in Mexico, South America and Africa. Officials alleged that some of those jets were carrying cocaine.

A special agent claimed there was evidence to suggest some of the proceeds from the jet leases had been laundered through The Springs.

In November 2013, the Journal reported that DEA agents visited Whittington Motor Sports, an Albuquerque-based car dealership. The business is owned by Dale Whittington Jr., the nephew of Don and Bill Whittington.

Attempts to reach Dale Whittington Jr. were unsuccessful. A number listed for Whittington Motor Sports had been disconnected, though the Secretary of State’s Office still lists the business as active.

The Journal could not determine whether the investigation has led to charges filed against any other individual or any additional plea agreements. The case under which the affidavit was originally filed has been sealed.