CFO of Local Drywall Company Pleads Guilty in Employment Tax Fraud Case

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Shannon C. Boston, 44, of Sunbury, Ohio, pleaded guilty in U.S. District court today to one count of failing to account for and pay over employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Kathy A. Enstrom, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office, James Vanderberg, Special Agent in Charge, the United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, Brad Geary, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, and Marlon V. Miller, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, announced the guilty plea entered into before U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson.

According to court documents, in 2013, Boston was the Chief Financial Officer of Porter Drywall, Inc. Boston submitted employer’s quarterly income tax returns for the company but failed to pay over their employees’ federal withholdings and Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) – which includes Social Security and Medicare withholdings amounts – for the fourth quarter of 2013, totaling $120,406.

The company’s Vice President, Robert Porter, 52, of Westerville, Ohio, was also charged in relation to this case when a federal grand jury returned an indictment on June 14 for five counts of willfully filing a false income tax return with the IRS, and one count of making a false statement.

The indictment alleges that Porter filed false personal income tax returns with the IRS for the 2009 through 2013 income tax years in which he omitted $236,064 in income, and that between June 2011 and December 2011 Porter, as a contractor for a HUD project, made false statements and representations relative to the filing of 29 false U.S. Department of Labor Forms.

"IRS Criminal Investigation realizes the detrimental consequences of employment tax evasion. It results in the loss of tax revenue to the United States government and the loss of future social security or Medicare benefits for the employees," stated Kathy A. Enstrom, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office.

Failing to account for and pay over employment taxes with the IRS is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the IRS, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Homeland Security Investigations, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel A. Brown, who is prosecuting the case.