Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_24-cv-02641/USCOURTS-caed-2_24-cv-02641-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 440
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights
Cause of Action: 28:1983 Civil Rights

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

RUSSELL BEVAN and HEIDI LEE, 

Plaintiffs, 

v. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, et al., 

Defendants. 

No. 2:24-cv-2641-DAD-SCR 

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE 

 

Plaintiffs Russell Bevan and Heidi Lee are proceeding pro se in this action, which was 

referred to the undersigned in accordance with Local Rule 302(c)(21) and 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). 

On September 30, 2024, Plaintiffs filed a complaint and paid the filing fee. ECF No. 3. On 

October 28, 2024, Plaintiffs filed a “Proof of Service,” but Defendants have not appeared in the 

action. The Court has reviewed the Complaint and hereby sua sponte directs the Plaintiffs to 

show cause why the action should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim and/or lack of 

subject matter jurisdiction. 

I. The Complaint 

 The Complaint is styled as a “Cause of Action of Accounting.” ECF No. 3 at 1. It names 

as Defendants: 1) the United States of America; 2) Department of Treasury; 3) Internal Revenue 

Service (IRS); 4) Deputy Assistant Attorney General David Hubbert; and 5) IRS Agent John 

Does 1-100. Id. at 1. The Complaint does not contain a jurisdictional statement, but string cites 

several federal statutes without explanation. Id. at 4. 

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 The factual allegations are nonsensical and frivolous. Plaintiffs contend they are 

“nonperson,” “non-resident,” “non-fiction,” “Living flesh and blood man/woman standing on 

ground.” ECF No. 3 at 6. Plaintiffs further state they are “representing the Corporate Fiction: 

Heidi Renee Lee.” Id. Plaintiffs assert that this is a cause of action for accounting, which arises 

where there is a fiduciary relationship. Id. Plaintiffs make the conclusory allegations that 

Defendants operate on a presumption of liability, which is false, and Plaintiffs demand proof of 

liability. Id. at 8. Plaintiffs contend that the IRS is not part of the Department of Treasury. Id. at 

10. Plaintiffs contend they are not taxpayers as defined in the Internal Revenue Code. Id. at 11. 

Plaintiffs contend that in order to maintain integrity and independence an Article III judge who is 

not a “taxpayer” must be designated to preside. Id. at 16. Plaintiffs’ Complaint contains a “relief 

stated” paragraph, but it does not seek clear relief. Rather, it states in full: 

Petitioner never received Notice of intent for the said 1040; Years 2023 as well as an 

itemized RBA [Restitution Based Assessment]. This alone would permit petitioner to 

invoke Court’s jurisdiction. This Letter of Notice to intent to seize (levy) shall be null and 

void NOT ONLY FOR JURISDICTIONAL ISSUES, but noncompliance of the above 

requested being put on the record. 

ECF No. 3 at 17. 

 Among the various documents attached to Plaintiffs complaints are what the Court can 

only assume to be adulterated and fraudulently executed versions of IRS Form 56. IRS Form 56 

is entitled “Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship,” which “is used to notify the IRS of the 

creation or termination of a fiduciary relationship” under certain tax laws.1

 Plaintiffs filed Form 

56s that purport to make Janet Yellen, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and Francisco Alicea, 

the former Secretary of the Treasury of Puerto Rico, the fiduciaries of “Heidi Renee Lee Trust. 

ECF No. 3 at 29-32. The Form 56s contain the purported electronic signature of each official and 

have been modified to include an “Actual & Constructive Legal Notice [U.C.C. §§ 1-

207(25)(26)(27)]” section that states, among other things, that each official has “been chosen to 

act as fiduciary in re Heidi Renee Lee TRUST.” Id. 

1

 See Instructions for Form 56, available at Instructions for Form 56 (12/2024) | Internal 

Revenue Service. 

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II. Analysis 

A trial court may dismiss a claim sua sponte under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). Omar v. SeaLand Service, Inc., 813 F.2d 986, 991 (9th Cir. 1987). A court may even do so “without notice 

where the claimant cannot possibly win relief.” Id. A court must consider its subject matter 

jurisdiction sua sponte. United States v. Keller, 2 F.4th 1278, 1282 (9th Cir. 2021). “A claim 

invoking federal-question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 ... may be dismissed for want of 

subject matter jurisdiction if it is not colorable, i.e., if it is immaterial and made solely for the 

purpose of obtaining jurisdiction or is wholly insubstantial and frivolous.” Arbaugh v. Y&H 

Corp., 546 U.S. 500, 513 n. 10 (2006) (citation and quotations omitted). The exact nature of 

Plaintiff’s claims against the IRS are unclear, but to the extent they exist at all they may be within 

the exclusive jurisdiction of the Tax Court. See Danner v. United States, 208 F.Supp.2d 1166, 

1170 (E.D. Wa. 2002) (“In general, the United States Tax Court has exclusive jurisdiction to 

determine the correctness of deficiency assessments made by the Commissioner of Internal 

Revenue, and may raise or lower an assessment or determine there was no deficiency.”); see also

Hinck v. United States, 550 U.S. 501 (2007) (holding Tax Court provides exclusive forum for 

judicial review of claims of refusal to abate interest). Another potential hurdle for Plaintiffs’ 

claims is sovereign immunity. See Gillings v. IRS, 138 F. App’x 990 (9th Cir. 2005) (“The 

district court properly dismissed [Plaintiff’s] action for lack of jurisdiction because sovereign 

immunity bars all suits against the federal government unless it expressly consents to be sued. 

The IRS and its agents in their official capacities have not waived sovereign immunity, and thus 

[Plaintiff’s] action is barred.”). 

Plaintiffs’ claims appear to be wholly insubstantial and frivolous. Plaintiffs contend they 

are non-citizen, non-taxpayer and non-fiction entities who are suing the United States and the IRS 

for an accounting. As described above, Plaintiffs also filed apparently fraudulent and adulterated 

forms purporting to make high-level government officials, including the U.S. Secretary of the 

Treasury, “fiduciaries” for a trust in the name Plaintiff Lee. A cause of action for an accounting 

generally “requires a showing that a relationship exists between the plaintiff and defendant that 

requires an accounting, and that some balance is due the plaintiff that can only be ascertained by 

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an accounting.” Screen Capital Intern. Corp. v. Library Asset Acquisition Co., 510 B.R. 248, 260 

(C.D. Cal. 2014). Plaintiffs have not sufficiently pled a claim for an accounting. See Gomez v. 

World Savings Bank FSB, 2010 WL 5280004 (E.D. Cal. 2010) (“The FAC does not plead the 

nature of the purported relationship between Plaintiff and each Defendant, rather, the FAC simply 

makes the conclusory statement that Defendants owe him an accounting.”). 

Good cause appearing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiffs shall show cause, in 

writing, within 14 days, why this case should not be dismissed based on lack of jurisdiction 

and/or for failure to state a claim. If Plaintiff fails to respond, the court will recommend dismissal 

of this case. 

SO ORDERED. 

DATED: January 16, 2025. 

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