Bernice Tingle, 67, lost her life’s savings of over $1 million to a convicted Bay Area Ponzi scheme operator, who’s now serving 46 months in federal prison. The retired phone company manager says she now barely gets by on the income she has left. But state tax collectors came after her for $84,000 in taxes on the paper profits that she never got. The debt now is $135,000 with interest and penalty charges. Tingle got some relief from the IRS, thanks to a ruling helping victims of the more infamous Ponzi schemer Bernard L. Madoff. But California tax officials say they can’t provide a similar break without a new law. More in the Los Angeles Times here.
