Sunland, California man sentenced in southern oregon in counterfeit Treasuries case

Barton Buhtz Sentenced for Conspiring with Three Oregonians to Pass Fictitious Instruments

Medford, Ore. - Barton Albert Buhtz, 68, of Sunland, California, was sentenced yesterday in United States District Court to 36 months imprisonment, to be followed by 36 months of supervised release, for his conviction in a counterfeit treasuries case. Last October, a federal jury found Buhtz guilty of conspiracy to pass approximately $3.8 million in false U.S. Treasury instruments and multiple counts of passing fictitious financial instruments. Buhtz remains free pending an appeal.

In September 2005, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Buhtz, Rebecca Adelle Shollenburg, Steven Douglas Shollenburg, Richard Roy Aquila and Steven Dale Kelton with using fake checks drawn on non-existent Treasury accounts to pay property taxes in Jackson and Coos Counties, to pay federal income taxes (to the IRS), and to try to buy property, recreational vehicles and other goods and services. The incidents occurred between August 2001 and April 2003. The indictment alleged that Buhtz, a self-styled "consumer advocate" conducted promotional seminars regarding the "Redemption" process in Oregon and elsewhere.

The Redemption theory rests on the fiction that government funds are placed in secret accounts at the U.S. Treasury upon the birth of each person born in the United States. Buhtz' presentations convinced many to join the Redemption movement and encouraged them to use so-called bills of exchange to access the secret Treasury accounts to discharge debts to third parties. Though Buhtz did not demand payment for his services, he did accept "voluntary donations."

At trial, the government put on evidence that, in 2001, co-defendants Steven Douglas Shollenburg, Rebecca Adelle Shollenburg, Richard Roy Aquila and Steven Dale Kelton attended a Redemption presentation by Buhtz at the Rogue Regency Inn in Medford. There was evidence that, after the presentation, the group began passing fraudulent Treasury checks, which Buhtz approved, to a Medford bank. The Shollenburgs and Richard Aquila, aided and abetted by Buhtz, convinced the bank to honor the phony checks in connection with the purchase of two new vehicles from a Medford dealership. The vehicles were later returned when the bank caught on to the fraud.
At trial, an expert from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency testified that the defendants' financial documents, purportedly drawn on the Treasury, were bogus and fraudulent. Another expert, who worked for the Federal Reserve Bank for 20 years, agreed and added that the philosophy known as Redemption was a scam.

A website operated by the U.S. Department of Treasury sets forth information on a number of fraudulent schemes such as the one involved in this case. It can be found at www.treasurydirect.gov/instit/statreg/fraud/fraud.htm It describes the procedure Buhtz advocated as "bogus and incomprehensible."

Rebecca Shollenburg of Prineville, Oregon, Richard Aquila of Medford, Oregon, and Steven Kelton of Central Point, Oregon, originally charged in the same indictment with Barton Buhtz and former Medford resident Steven Shollenburg, pled guilty to conspiracy to pass fictitious instruments and testified at trial as part of their plea agreements with the government.

This case was investigated by special agents of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. "IRS special agents, federal prosecutors and other law enforcement officers work tirelessly to protect all Americans from illegal and deceptive advice such as that promoted by this individual," said Kenneth J. Hines, the Special Agent in Charge for IRS Criminal Investigation in the Pacific Northwest. "The passing of fake checks in order to pay taxes and purchase material goods is not only ridiculous, it's criminal, and was treated as such through this three year prison sentence."