Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Arrest Of Business Owner For Failing To Pay More Than $250,000 In Payroll Taxes

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Toni Weirauch, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced today the indictment of TREVOR WHITTINGHAM, an owner of parking lots in Manhattan, for a scheme in which he allegedly failed to pay more than $245,000 in payroll taxes to the IRS. WHITTINGHAM was arrested this morning at his residence in Fort Lee, New Jersey, in connection with today’s charges and will be presented and arraigned before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Sullivan at 3:30 p.m. this afternoon.

According to the allegations contained in the Indictment unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:

WHITTINGHAM owned and controlled two companies, EZ Going Park Here and We Have Cars II, through which he operated parking lots in Harlem and other parts of upper Manhattan, New York. WHITTINGHAM was responsible for collecting, accounting for and paying payroll taxes on behalf of both of these companies. From December 2006 through June 2009, WHITTINGHAM caused EZ Going Park Here and We Have Cars II to deduct and collect payroll taxes from its employees. The majority of those payroll taxes, however, were not paid over to the IRS as required. Instead, WHITTINGHAM used the corporate funds of EZ Going Park Here and We Have Cars II to pay for various personal items and otherwise finance a lavish lifestyle. As a result, from 2005 through 2009 EZ Going Park Here and We Have Cars II accumulated approximately $251,265 in unpaid payroll tax liabilities.

WHITTINGHAM, 63, is charged with 13 counts of failing to pay over payroll taxes to the IRS. He faces a maximum sentence on each count of five years in prison, or a total of 65 years in prison on all counts.

Mr. Bharara praised the efforts of IRS-CI in the investigation. He also thanked the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division for their significant assistance in the investigation.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds Unit. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Young is in charge of the prosecution.

The charges and allegations contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

U.S. v. Trevor Whittingham Indictment