Roofing Contractor Sentenced for Pocketing Employee Payroll Tax Withholdings

WILMINGTON, Del. – Robert Smulski, age 58, of Wilmington, Delaware, was sentenced to twelve months and one day of imprisonment and two years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $484,339.28 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service for the willful failure to pay over employment taxes.  Smulski previously pled guilty to the charges on September 30, 2015.  Charles M. Oberly, III, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced the sentence handed down today by the Honorable Gregory M. Sleet, Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. 

Smulski was the owner and President of Smulski Enterprises, Ltd., a roofing company in Wilmington, Delaware.  As the owner and President, Smulski was responsible for ensuring that the employees' payroll tax withholdings were paid over to the government.  Between 2006 and 2012, Smulski Enterprises withheld payroll taxes from its employees' paychecks.  But instead of paying that money over to the IRS, Smulski instead used it to pay himself and his personal creditors. 

The unpaid employment taxes from 2006 through 2012 totaled $484,339.28.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Hall.