The Investment Banker’s Taxes: Long-Concealed Records Show Bateman’s Chronic Losses and Years of Tax Avoidance

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The Rotting Corpse obtained Patrick Bateman's tax information extending over more than two decades, revealing struggling investments, vast write-offs, an audit battle, and hundreds of millions in debt coming due. The former Pierce & Pierce Mergers and Acquisitions Vice President and investment specialist paid $750 in federal income taxes the year he won the promotion. In his first year holding the title, he paid another $750. He had paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years — largely because he reported losing much more money on investments than he made.

Of course, the embattled New York City investment banker illustrates a vastly different image of his status, even in light of his ousting from Pierce & Pierce in November 2019. From high-priced dinner gatherings at Dorsia to lavish business card expenditures, Bateman has maintained the deliberate appearance of wealth and success despite his taxes hinting at troubling financial stress. We can only let the evidence laid before us suggest whether the former VP's successes are less robust than he lets on, or perhaps his success is being fueled, at least in part, because of fraudulent accounting and tax evasion.

Among the various expenditures and tax deductions claimed by Bateman over the course of several years in investment banking lies an astounding amount of money spent on business cards. According to the tax records we obtained, the former VP paid more than $70,000 printing new, increasingly elaborate cards, claiming massive write-offs along the way. While it's easy on paper to argue these expenses are a key component of doing business, one only needs to look towards Bateman's historical business card one-upmanship with Paul Allen, who was, at the time, co-Vice President of Pierce & Pierce.

"Patrick was, to put it mildly, obsessed with having the best business cards in the company," said Donald Kimball, an NYC private investigator tasked with looking into the business dealings of Pierce & Pierce in recent years. "These high-strung executives would always take the time to get together, usually burning money at Dorsia, to show off their designs. Bateman once produced a brand new card of bone coloring, with exquisite Silian Grail letters — his description, by the way. All of the other bankers were in awe. This man was totally fixated on beating out the other business cards, particularly Paul's."

Other excessive tax write-offs we found, apart from the elaborate restaurant bills multiple times per week, fell into the entertainment category, surely justified as further, necessary business expenses to woo potential clients. In particular, Bateman's records show an obsession with Huey Lewis and the News, which included concert appearances and even booking the band for several private events. The same goes for other recording artists, as the former VP often boasted about being a music connoisseur with varied tastes. No segment of the merger and acquisition specialist's personal interests, nor those of his fiancé, Evelyn Williams, seem to have been off the table with respect to minimizing tax burdens.

While the damning paper trail didn't end there, as the soon-to-be released documents will indicate in full, Bateman's perceived wealth is underscored only by his crushing debt, which has been confirmed by our own independent analyses. Year after year, the finance executive has reported heavy losses, leaving any reasonable skeptic to wonder just where all the money he is saving on taxes goes. Are his business dealings as dire as these forms suggest, or something more sinister at play here?

We made multiple attempts to reach out to Bateman for comment only to be met with excuses and even more avoidance, much like what we are seeing in these tax records. Our most recent encounter with the troubled former VP ended abruptly as he insisted he must depart to return some video tapes. We can only wonder what tapes of the investor himself might show, should any such tape manifest into existence. We will be releasing more details in the weeks ahead.

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