South Russell man charged with attempting to evade taxes
Nicholas E. Scordos was charged in a one-count information with attempting to evade employment taxes of N.E.S. Construction, LLC., said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
According to court records, Scordos, age 36, resides in South Russell, Ohio.
Scordos owned N.E.S. Construction, based in Broadview Heights, Ohio, which was engaged in the business of painting and repairing bridges generally under contract with the State of Ohio, according to the information.
The information alleges that Scordos attempted to evade a portion of the quarterly Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes and income taxes required to be withheld from the wages of certain N.E.S. Construction employees, along with the matching employer’s share of FICA taxes owed on those wages for the calendar quarters ending September 2006 through December 2009. For some N.E.S. Construction employees, Scordos caused part of their wages to be paid by non-payroll company checks that were falsely recorded on the company books as 1099 independent contract labor cost or employee expense reimbursements. He attempted to evade taxes on those wages (jointly referred to as employment taxes), totaling approximately $42,735, by causing false employment tax returns to be filed that did not report those wages or taxes. Scordos retained a payroll company to handle N.E.S. Construction’s payroll and file the employment tax returns, but provided that company false information that excluded the wages paid by non-payroll checks.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John M. Siegel and Justin J. Roberts, following an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General and Employee Benefits Security Administration, and the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General.
An information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
