Internal Revenue Service agents seized financial, phone and business records this week associated with leading Baltimore bail bondsmen Milton Tillman Jr. and his son, Milton Tillman III, including records from a longshoremen's union at the Dundalk Marine Terminal, according to sources close to the investigation.
One of the seven buildings searched Monday is owned by Ioannis "Crazy John" Kafouros, a federal fugitive and convicted stolen-goods dealer, and his wife, Diana. Kafouros was last seen a decade ago in the Greek isles. Another building that authorities searched, a 1,440-square-foot concrete structure at a marine terminal pier, is leased by Ports America.
Members of the International Longshoremen's Association clock in and out and get jobs at the building, said Mark Montgomery, senior vice president of Ports America.
"The ILA's time records are kept in the building, and the authorities asked us to comply, and we allowed them to take some of those records," he said.
Tillman Jr. has been a repeated target of federal and state law enforcement, and was convicted years ago of bribery and tax evasion, but authorities have given no indication of what led to this week's raids.
"We don't have the search warrant affidavits yet, which would detail the allegations," said Steven A. Allen, defense attorney for Milton Tillman III, president of the family's bail bonds companies.
U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein and IRS special agent Thaddeous Miller, who obtained the warrants, declined to comment yesterday. Rosenstein said that the affidavits are under seal, and he said he could not say when that would change.
The elder Tillman is best known as the city's bail bonds king - he controls the vast majority of the business in the city by charging fees that his competitors complain are improperly discounted. Last year, Tillman was cleared on charges that he and his licensed bondsmen illegally "double-posted" properties to free people from jail, meaning he used a single property as collateral for more than one bond at the same time.
He has also had a long association with the longshoremen's union.
According to federal court records, in the late 1980s, Tillman Jr. reported that he earned $35,744 for work as a stevedore, or longshoreman, although the work was performed by another man, Harold Coleman.
