Businessman Charged with Failure to Pay Employment Taxes and Attempt to Obstruct the IRS

A federal grand jury in Atlanta, Georgia, returned an indictment yesterday charging a Georgia man with failing to pay employment taxes and with obstructing the collection efforts of the IRS.

According to the indictment, from 2009 through 2018, Douglas Mittleider, of Adairsville, was in charge of several long-term care facilities located throughout the United States, and was responsible for withholding and paying employment taxes on behalf of his employees. Notwithstanding his obligations, Mittleider allegedly did not fully pay over these withholdings, resulting in an outstanding balance of more than $10,000,000 being owed to the IRS. From approximately November 2011 to the present, Mittleider allegedly attempted to obstruct IRS efforts to collect employment taxes that were due by filing false employment tax returns and directing payment of corporate funds to his family members instead of to the IRS.

The defendant’s initial court appearance will be scheduled at a later date in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison on the obstruction charge and five years in prison on each of the other charges. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine for the Northern District of Georgia made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys William Guappone and Mitchell Galloway of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alana Black of the Northern District of Georgia are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.