Federal Court Permanently Bars Texas Man from Operating Businesses Because of Unpaid Payroll Taxes

DALLAS – A federal court in Dallas has barred Arthur Piner Grider III from operating businesses under any name, the Justice Department announced today. The final judgment and permanent injunction order, to which Grider agreed, finds him liable for more than $100 million in unpaid federal employment taxes, unemployment taxes and related penalties associated with numerous business entities, including Asgard Avionics Corp. of Florida, Talent Force Services LLC and NAG Financial LLC.

The court’s order also makes final a preliminary injunction entered against Grider in November 2010 that prohibited Grider and his employee leasing companies from, among other things, transferring funds to themselves or others before paying their current federal employment tax liabilities. The government’s complaint alleged that Grider and his business entities had a long history of “pyramiding” employment taxes.

According to the court’s orders, Grider and his wife agreed to allow the government to sell their Houston residence as a partial payment of his tax debts. The court also appointed a receiver to locate, preserve and distribute to creditors the assets of Grider’s businesses, including 69 company bank accounts and 14 antique automobiles manufactured between 1929 and 1970. The court also ordered the receiver to sell Grider’s interest in Pacific Aerospace Resources & Technologies LLC of Victorville, Calif., and to apply the sale proceeds to his tax debts.