Lake Worth, Fla., Owner of Construction Business Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud Conspiracy

WASHINGTON - Richard Rosaire Routhier of Lake Worth, Fla., pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging him with conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Justice Department and the IRS announced today. According to the information, Routhier and others conspired to defraud the United States and unlawfully enrich themselves by paying employees in cash and not withholding and paying over employment taxes to the U.S. Treasury.

According to court documents, Routhier owned and operated Drymension Inc., a custom drywall installation and framing contracting company in Lake Worth. From 2002 through 2008, the defendant caused Drymension checks to be issued to several shell corporations. These entities, while purporting to be legitimate subcontractors, existed only on paper and did not do any work for Drymension. The checks written to shell corporations totaled approximately $9,132,516. The checks were cashed at local check cashing stores that were aware of the scheme and Routhier used the cash to pay Drymension employees. Routhier neither withheld from the cash wages nor paid over to the IRS the employment and income taxes as required by law.

The court scheduled sentencing for June 2, 1011. The defendant faces a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and John A. DiCicco, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice, Tax Division, thanked the IRS Special Agents who investigated this case and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Matthew J. Mueller, Jason H. Poole and Assistant Chief Gregory E. Tortella who are prosecuting the case.