Klein Conspiracy Definition: (USA) Conspiracy to defraud the United States by frustrating the functions of the Internal Revenue Agency. The term was described by Justice Paul Barbadoro of the United States District Court (Puerto Rico) as follows (in US v Acevedo Vila):"A conspiracy to defraud the United States by frustrating the functions of the IRS is known as a Klein conspiracy."A Klein conspiracy consists of three elements that must be alleged in an indictment: (1) an agreement between two or more people to accomplish an unlawful objective against the United States; (2) the commission of an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy; and (3) the knowing and voluntary participation of the defendants in the conspiracy."Such conspiracies to defraud are not limited to those aiming to deprive the government of money or property, but include conspiracy to interfere with government functions."In addition, the means used to achieve the unlawful goal of the conspiracy need not be unlawful and the government need not demonstrate that taxes have not been paid." REFERENCES:US v. Acevedo Vila, 588 F. Supp. 2d 194 (2008) Categories & Topics: Tax Law Dictionary Find you are constantly looking up definitions? Try our search provider (works in most modern browsers) If you find an error or omission in Duhaime's Legal Dictionary, or if you have legal term suggestion, we'd love to hear from you!