CLEVELAND, Ohio -- An anti-government “sovereign citizen” accused of scamming the IRS into issuing $8 million in fraudulent tax refunds took about three minutes this morning to describe his defense against the federal charges.

"Yes, in fact I received a check legally and lawfully," said Don Gooch, 64, of East Cleveland, during his opening statements to a jury in U.S. District Court.

"I did this in good faith, not to harm anybody. I come in peace. I did nothing fraudulent," Gooch said.

Gooch, a former Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation employee, and co-defendant Gerard Scott of Cleveland are charged in a five-count indictment with conspiracy and making false claims to the federal government. Both say they are innocent.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Siegel accused Gooch and Scott of creating a phony trust and then falsely reporting to the IRS that the trust had withheld $17 million in income taxes for two individuals, a trust and a holding company.

The conspirators then filed false income tax returns in the names of the two people, the trust and the holding company, resulting in the IRS issuing four checks, for $249,430; $267,302; and two for $3.6 million each, Siegel said.

The IRS relied on the fraudulent 1099 forms to issue the $8 million in refund checks before verifying the validity of the defendants' financial documents used to support the claims, Siegel said.

"They spent the money as fast as they could before the IRS realized its mistake," Siegel told the jury.

Gooch used some of the cash to buy a $93,000 Range Rover. He and Scott also bought $100,000 worth of gold and silver coins, and wrote thousands of dollars worth of checks to family members and associates. Scott tried, but failed, to buy a $487,000 home in Aurora and a $164,000 Porsche before he and Gooch were caught, Siegel said.

Both men are acting as their own lawyers, although U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent has ordered them to retain their court-appointed counsel at the defense table for legal advice. The trial is expected to last about two days.

Scott was more long-winded than Gooch during his opening statements, but his message was the same.

Scott said he studied the fine-print language contained in federal trust documents, which he contended gave him the authority to issue tax credits, which in turn resulted in refunds.

"There has been no evidence provided by the government that I could not do this," Scott told the jury. "The IRS laws gave me the authority to file these claims that are alleged to be fraudulent by the prosecution."

Scott maintains that he and Gooch eventually returned "99 percent" of the refund money.

"There's no need for criminal charges here," Scott said. "I put the money in trusts -- things that Rockefellers and such use to protect their assets."

Siegel did not state how much of the money was recovered.

Gooch previously worked as a $53,000-a-year claims specialist in a Bureau of Workers' Compensation office in Garfield Heights. In 2010, an Ohio inspector general's office investigation found that he was performing personal work on state time, and he was placed on paid leave. Gooch said he is receiving $12,000 per year in retirement benefits.