Michigan Says CIA Owes State Over $20,000 In Taxes

LANSING (AP) - The Michigan Treasury Department says the CIA has failed to pay more than $20,000 owed in state income taxes.

The department has filed three tax liens against the agency for state income taxes withheld from employees' paychecks. A lien gives Michigan a legal claim to a debtor's property until the alleged debt is paid.

The liens say the agency failed to pay 10 bills between March 2011 and December 2013, according to The Lansing State Journal. They were recorded in increments of $2,735 in February 2012, $11,066 in June 2012 and $7,041 in March 2014.

CIA spokesman Ryan Trapani said it's unlikely the agency would "have something in our name to create a liability in Michigan." He said the claims might have originated with an anti-government group, adding there are several fake CIA websites on the Internet that give wrong information about agency activities in Michigan and other states.

Curtis Hertel Jr., who serves as the Ingham County Recorder of Deeds, said "there is no doubt the liens are legitimate." He said the person who recorded them is a state Treasury employee.

Treasury officials can't speak publicly about individual tax cases under Michigan law.