PORTLAND, Ore. – Thomas A. Rennie, Age 58, of Battle Ground, Washington, and formerly of Portland, Oregon, was sentenced today to one year in prison, supervised release of three years, and restitution to the IRS of $1.5 million for evading payment of employment taxes and personal income taxes.
According to court documents, Rennie operated a car detailing business in Portland for 28 years, and a dog training business in Washington since 2015. Rennie knowingly and intentionally evaded payment of nearly $1.5 million in taxes for the years 2005 through 2017. These unpaid taxes were comprised of employment taxes for his businesses, personal income taxes, and corporate taxes. Rennie’s efforts to evade the payment of his taxes included his failure to maintain proper business books and records; using business bank accounts and a non-profit entity’s bank account to pay personal expenses; concealing ownership of personal assets by placing title to these assets in the names of nominee entities; concealing the income from the sale of one of his companies by placing the proceeds in bank accounts held in the names of nominees; and making false statements to an IRS Revenue Officer.
Rennie previously pleaded guilty to one count of Tax Evasion on December 16, 2019.
The Internal Revenue Service investigated this case. It was prosecuted by Claire M. Fay, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.