Vice President of Local Drywall Company Sentenced for Income Tax Fraud

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Vice President of Porter Drywall and Black Star Drywall, Inc. was sentenced in U.S. District Court to five years of probation and ordered to pay more than $25,000 in restitution to the IRS for filing a false income tax return.

As a condition of his probation, Robert E. Porter, 53, of Westerville, Ohio, must ensure that Porter Drywall subscribes to proper governmental forms and otherwise complies with all tax, labor and immigration laws with respect to its employees.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Ryan L. Korner, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office, James Vanderberg, Special Agent in Charge, 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 Steve Francis, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, announced the sentence handed down yesterday by U.S. District Judge Michael. H. Watson.

According to court documents, Porter was Vice President of the companies between 2009 and 2013. Porter Drywall contracted to provide drywall installation and drywall supplies to residential and commercial contractors in Central Ohio. As well as being Vice President, Porter was a jobsite supervisor and estimator for Porter Drywall’s private and corporate clients.

Acting on behalf of Porter Drywall, Porter provided estimates for certain projects and assigned Porter Drywall’s employees and/or subcontractors to complete the work. He diverted numerous customer payments to his personal bank account while Porter Drywall incurred all of the costs for the projects – including labor and materials.

Shannon C. Boston, 44, of Sunbury, Ohio, was also charged in relation to this case and pleaded guilty to one count of failing to account for and pay over employment taxes to the IRS. Boston was sentenced on April 20, 2017 to five years of probation and was ordered to pay nearly $93,000 in restitution to the IRS.

While Boston was the Chief Financial Officer of Porter Drywall, Inc. in 2013, she 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.

"Tax violations have been erroneously referred to as victimless crimes, but it's the honest law-abiding citizen who is harmed when someone tries to manipulate our nation's tax system," said Ryan L. Korner, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office.

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 prosecuted the case.

# # #