The former owner of Bullies Sports Bar and Grill in Piqua was
sentenced in U.S. District Court in Dayton to 5 years’ probation, including 6
months of home confinement, for impeding the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
from collecting unpaid employee withholding taxes.
For a Limited Time receive a
FREE Compensation Market Analysis Report! Find out how much you should be paying to attract and retain the best applicants and employees, with
customized information for your industry, location, and job.
Get Your Report Now!
An investigation by treasury inspector general agents found
that the owner owed $49,916 in back employee withholding taxes when he sold the
restaurant in October 2006. Rather than pay the taxes, he deposited the
proceeds from the sale into his wife’s checking account, according to charges
filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio.
When the IRS filed tax levies against that account and a
second account in the owner’s name, the owner obtained a release of levy on the
second account, and then allegedly used it to fabricate a fraudulent release of
levy for his wife’s account. Upon receiving the fabricated release, the bank
released the funds, which the defendant directed his wife to liquidate that
same day in cash and official bank checks, officials said.
The owner pleaded guilty to one count of corrupt endeavor to
impede an employee of the United States acting in an official capacity under
IRS laws. In addition to probation and home confinement, U.S. District Judge
Thomas Rose ordered the owner to pay restitution of $49,916 to the IRS.