The U.S. government is trying to seize homes, vacation retreats, vehicles and boats of embattled investment promoter George Fiorini, saying that he bought them with money from investors in one of his companies.

        The Internal Revenue Service, in statements filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, contends that Mr. Fiorini bankrolled his buying binge with money from his IGW Trust — which stands for In God We Trust.

        It also says Mr. Fiorini, who portrayed himself as an icon of financial success, reported negative income in 1996 and 1999.

        The federal claims on Mr. Fiorini's properties coincide with a wave of lawsuits accusing him of defrauding investors through his so-called 10 Percent Income Plus Plan, which was heavily advertised in Greater Cincinnati in the past eight years. Mr. Fiorini's lawyer vowed to fight the claims within two weeks.

        Many of the investors were steered unwittingly into high-risk promissory notes issued by Guardian Investments, a Northern Kentucky company that planned to build a chain of medical-waste disposal centers. But most of the $13.5 million wound up with a convicted bank thief in Los Angeles, Terry Quatkemeyer, a cousin of Guardian owner Stephen Ventre.

        The federal case, opened in June 1997, says Mr. Fiorini aided and abetted the alleged Guardian fraud. At the same time, the IRS said, he was committing fraud and money laundering on his own, running an “investment Ponzi scheme” with $5 million raised from IGW investors from 1995 to 2000.

        Through a lawyer, Mr. Fiorini denied having committed any crimes.

        “He's told me he's not guilty of anything,” said the lawyer, Howard Cade of Cincinnati.

        “They're just allegations, and he absolutely denies them,” he said. “I think a lot of people would be shocked if they knew the government could come in and take their homes on the basis of allegations.”

        In its lawsuits, filed in October, the government plans to seize:

        • Mr. Fiorini's house at 7641 Wesselman Road in Miami Township, which Hamilton County values at $180,800.

        • A house at 3392 Fiddlers Green Road, in Green Township, purchased by Mr. Fiorini for his mother, Ann, in 1997 for $100,000.

        • A house at 5973 Oakapple Drive, in Green Township, owned by Mr. Fiorini's son Michael, purchased in 1999 for $89,000.

        • A property at 2110 St. Leo Place, in North Fairmount, acquired in 1989 for $75,100.

        • An empty commercial lot at 3514 Boudinot Ave., in Westwood, valued by the county at $26,200.

        • A Gatlinburg, Tenn., condominium purchased by IGW Trust in July 2000 for $235,000.

        • Three condos, including a penthouse unit, in Siesta Key, Fla., purchased in 1998 and 1999 by Mr. Fiorini's wife, Vicki, for a total of $560,900.

        Mr. Cade added that the government has also given seizure notices for several of Mr. Fiorini's vehicles and boats.

        A default judgment already has been ordered in the case of the Florida condos, which are near Sarasota. But Mr. Cade, who signed on as Mr. Fiorini's lawyer less than a month ago, said he expects to assert his claims to all of his properties this week or next.

        No criminal charges have been filed against Mr. Fiorini. An IRS spokesman said it is not uncommon for the government to take possession of assets from criminal suspects before charges are filed.

        “It happens because we think the property's in jeopardy and that the person might sell it, get rid of it or burn it down,” IRS spokesman Ross Brown said. “In that case, we'll seek an attachment ahead of time.”

        Anything that the government seizes will be sold by the U.S. Marshals Service. Investors will be allowed to ask for a piece of the proceeds. How the money is distributed will be up to the judge.

        As to criminal charges, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Brinkman would not discuss the likelihood of any being filed.

        But Mr. Cade said: “I assume, given the circumstances so far, there probably will be.”

        Tom and Pat Clark, a Miami Heights couple who put $25,000 into the 10 Percent Plus Income Plan, would like to see justice run its course.

        “I just want people like him, who I believe to be less than pond scum, to have to pay their dues, pay back the people he duped and to have the law take care of him,” Pat Clark said. “I don't care if he has to be in jail for 150 years.”

        The IRS, having obtained statements of Fiorini-controlled bank accounts, said money raised from 10 Percent Plus Income Plan customers was deposited into accounts that were in turn used to pay for homes.

        “Most of the investor money was used for the personal benefit of George Fiorini and his family and friends, including the purchase, improvement and maintenance of real estate and making loans,” IRS investigator Elizabeth Fleaher said in a sworn statement.

        According to the IRS affidavit, Mr. Fiorini reported adjusted gross income of $102,325 in 1997 and $142,758 in 1998, but losses of $1,565 in both 1996 and 1999. It said IGW did not file tax returns.

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