CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A Charlotte jury has returned a guilty verdict against two Charlotte businessmen for failing to account for and pay over to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) more than $150,000 in trust fund taxes over five quarters in 2016 and 2017. Richard Brasser, 57, and Gregroy Gentner, 52, both of Charlotte, were convicted of multiple counts of failing to account for and pay over the trust funds taxes.
Donald “Trey” Eakins, Special Agent in Charge of the IRS, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI), Charlotte Field Office, joins U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.
“When employers willfully fail to collect, account for and deposit with the IRS employment taxes due, they are stealing from their employees and ultimately, the United States Treasury. In addition, employers who willfully fail to comply with their tax obligations unlawfully gain an unfair advantage over their honest competitors,” said U.S. Attorney King.
“Business owners such as Brasser and Gentner have a responsibility to withhold income taxes for their employees and then remit those taxes to the IRS,” said Special Agent in Charge Eakins. “The failure to pay over withheld taxes is a serious offense. IRS Criminal Investigation vigorously pursues anyone who engages in tax fraud schemes such as these.”
According to evidence presented at trial, witness testimony, and other court documents, rFactr was a company with offices in Charlotte, that sold software and provided ongoing support for that software to companies that were leveraging their social networks as part of their sales platforms. Brasser was rFactr’s Chief Executive Officer and Gentner the Chief Operating Officer. Trial evidence established that from 2015 through 2017, Brasser and Gentner caused rFactr to collect more than $600,000 in trust fund taxes from the wages of its employees, but did not account for the taxes by filing Forms 941 with the IRS. Moreover, the defendants did not pay over the withheld taxes to the IRS in a timely manner.
According to trial evidence, Brasser and Gentner had a history of noncompliance with rFactr’s employment tax obligations. Specifically, between 2013 and 2017, Brasser and Gentner failed to comply with rFactr’s employment tax obligations by failing to timely file rFactr’s employment tax returns and failing to timely pay over to the IRS rFactr’s employment taxes. In total, between 2015 and 2017, Brasser and Gentner caused rFactr to owe more than $1.1 million in employment taxes.
At sentencing, Brasser and Gentner each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for each count of failing to account for and pay over the trust funds taxes.
IRS-Criminal Investigation investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Caryn Finley and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Frick of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte are prosecuting the case.