CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — A federal jury convicted a Wyoming County ambulance service business owner for using taxes withheld from employees’ wages improperly, accruing around $3.3 million in unpaid taxes, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
They said Christopher Smyth, 48, of Pineville, operated Stat EMS, LLC. He was accused of using Social Security, Medicare and income taxes from his employees’ wages, the DOJ said in a press release.
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Instead of paying them to the IRS, the DOJ said he paid for personal expenses and transferred money to businesses owned and held by family and friends.
When trying to collect the unpaid taxes, he told the IRS revenue officer that he had no personal bank accounts and didn’t use anyone else’s, but he, “regularly deposited his paychecks into an account in a relative’s name,” according to the DOJ.
Smyth would also try to mislead the officer by saying he had nothing to do with other businesses, even though he had signature authority over their bank accounts, according to the DOJ.
The jury found him guilty on two counts of failing to pay over taxes for two quarters in 2016, and one count of obstructing the IRS. He was found not guilty of failure to pay over taxes in two quarters in 2017, the DOJ said in the press release.
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Smyth’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 4. He faces up to 13 years in prison, the DOJ said.