NORTHERN MARIANAS ISLANDS — The Wall Street Journal reports that after 20 years of hiding, fugitive Silicon Valley tycoon and tax cheat William Millard has been found in the Grand Cayman Islands in the Caribbean, where he’s largely beyond the reach of U.S. authorities. Millard became one of the world’s richest people as a result of the Computerland retail chain he created. The Journal said he was later forced to sell because of his lavish spending and odd management style. Millard owes more than $100 million in back taxes and penalties. When he fled, he lived on the remote west Pacific island of Saipan, in the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands. The Northern Marianas offers significant tax breaks to Americans who live and operate businesses there, but he stiffed the territory for millions in tax payments.. Since he fled, attorneys and investigators for the Northern Marianas have followed Millard’s tracks through about 50 shell companies and overseas bank accounts. The Journal reported an investigator staked out a daughter’s home in Florida, where he spotted Millard last Christmas. His spokesman told the Journal that Millard didn’t know he was wanted for back taxes until a few days ago, and that he rejects the notion that he was hiding. The Northern Marianas said it will pursue the matter in court, although it says the Wall Wtreet firm J.P. Morgan Chase and Company ignored a gag order and tipped off Millard’s family to the pending lawsuit. The company called the warning a clerical error.
Wednesday, Sept. 14, 11 a.m.
