Owner of Scrap Metal Business Sentenced for Tax Evasion

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that the owner of a Kansas City, Mo., scrap metal business has been sentenced in federal court for tax evasion.

Nellie Brown Boxx, 62, of Kearney, Mo., was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Greg Kays on Tuesday, June 16, 2015, to 18 months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Boxx to pay $366,846 in restitution to the IRS and the Missouri Department of Revenue. Boxx paid $50,000 of that restitution amount prior to yesterday’s hearing.

Boxx, the owner of Frank Metal Company in Kansas City, pleaded guilty to tax evasion on Feb. 19, 2015. Boxx admitted that she assisted tax preparers to prepare tax returns that contained false information. For example, Boxx classified purchases such as food items, drinks, jewelry, dry cleaning, household items and high-end clothing as business expenses for her scrap metal company.

According to the plea agreement, Boxx received $320,345 in taxable income in 2008, and owed $87,123 in federal income tax. The court-ordered restitution includes that tax loss as well as additional relevant conduct.

Boxx also admitted that she submitted a false 2008 Form 1040 to a bank in order to receive a financial loan. Boxx also admitted that she made false statements to IRS agents, such as falsely claiming that business documents had been destroyed by water damage from a leak in the roof.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Roseann A. Ketchmark. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.