Occupation Businessman Criminal penalty 11 years Role Entrepreneur Criminal charge Tax evasion Children Vox Day | Religion Southern Baptist Name Robert Beale Residence United States of America Criminal status Prison | |
 | ||
Robert Beale is a Minnesota entrepreneur, founder and former CEO of Comtrol, tax protester, and convicted felon who was sentenced to 11 years and 2 months in federal prison for tax evasion, threatening a federal judge, and jumping bail.
Beale was on the Minnesota board for televangelist Pat Robertson's campaign during Robertson's failed run for president in 1988. Beale also reported that he was once a major contributor and board member of Living Word Christian Center, a Brooklyn Park church which would later come under the scrutiny of the IRS as well. He is also a former shareholder and board of directors member of WorldNetDaily.
Beale's problems with the IRS began in the 1990s over a dispute involving a computer software firm Beale founded called Artist Graphics. On April 30, 2008, Beale was convicted of illegally hiding $5.6 million of his salary as CEO of Comtrol to evade $1.6 million in taxes. (His original trial had been delayed 14 months when Beale skipped bail on the eve of his trial in August 2006.) He was later charged with threatening the life of the federal judge who prosecuted him and was given 11 additional months of prison time. Beale served briefly as his own attorney at his trial.
Family
Beale is the father of writer Theodore Beale (who also goes by the pen name Vox Day).