At the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) meeting on March 24, 2025, FTB discussed their new software system, called EDR2.
Per the presentation, EDR2 is being rolled out one department at a time. One of the first departments to switch over to it was Collections. Here is a screenshot from the presentation in which they said that the new EDR2 software being utilized by the the Collections department “…will result in increased revenue…”
In the public comment time, I reminded FTB that I had documented in the Grab v. FTB court case that Collections agents Alexis Bear and Carrey Burton-Beilby had each directed me to send more money than the bill stated was due, then manually altered FTB records to make it appear that was always the amount due. In the court documents, I showed exactly how FTB “cooked the books.” Then I asked if the new EDR2 software allowed this manual inflation of balances due.
Shockingly, FTB’s board member representative, Deputy State Controller Hasib Emran (who represented State Controller Malia Cohen), actually responded to me! Here is Mr. Emran’s letter and my response. The pertinent part of Emran’s letter:
“FTB disagrees collection agents intentionally overcharged constituents. FTB’s practice is to collect the correct amount of tax, penalties, and interest consistent with the law. The EDR2 system will allow FTB employees to manually adjust a balance where the adjustment is required to make sure the balance reflects the correct amount of tax, penalties, and interest consistent with the law.”
So there we have it. FTB readily admitted that it is possible for Collections department employees to manually inflate the balances.
Here is the pertinent part of my response:
In the Statements of Undisputed Facts and Supporting Evidence in Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment (SUF) that was submitted in the SDSC case Christine N. Grab v. The California Franchise Tax Board, FTB never denied the allegations that Carrey Burton-Beilby and Alexis Bear had each directed me to send in more money than was due, then falsified FTB’s internal records to make it look like that was always the correct amount due. I am not looking at the paperwork now, but if I remember correctly, the excess funds collected by Alexis Bear were moved into a second demand fee penalty and the excess funds collected by Carrey Burton-Beilby were added to the interest.
In their response to the SUF, FTB did not deny the allegations; instead FTB stated that they were irrelevant for the case. Per CCP § 431.20(a), failure to deny constitutes admission: Any material allegation in the complaint that is not effectively denied is deemed admitted. [see Hennefer v. Butcher (1986) 182 CA3d 492, 504, 227 CR 318, 325].
It is too late for FTB to try to deny this now.
Note: I am not suicidal, I don’t have depression issues, I am a careful driver, I rarely drink alcohol, and I do not use drugs of any kind (not even aspirin). My family lives a wholesome life. If something happens to me or my family that is out of character for us, we were set up by the State of California as revenge for exposing their crimes.