PORTLAND — The owner of a Rumford construction company admitted in federal court Monday to tax evasion.
Jeffrey Richard, 48, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to willfully evading the payment of employment taxes owed by Black Bear Industrial Inc., a metal fabrication and construction company.
Richard faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, plus up to three years of supervised release.
He agreed not to appeal any sentence of two years or less.
As part of his plea arrangement, Richard agreed to pay $910,980.37 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
The amount represents money Richard owed over four years: $433,363.53 in 2016, $156,220.23 in 2015, $206,170.23 in 2014 and $115,226.38 in 2013, according to court records.
Prosecutors plan to dismiss eight other charges against Richard at sentencing for which no date has been set yet.
Despite being aware of the company’s unpaid employment tax liability, Richard took a variety of steps to evade payment, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Wolff.
Richard regularly used funds from Black Bear’s business bank account to make business and personal purchases, all while making no payments toward Black Bear’s tax liability, Wolff said.
Richard also created two nominee companies and took steps to disguise his ownership of the companies. He falsely represented to an IRS revenue officer that he had anything to do with one of the companies. The other company did business and had over $174,000 of business income in 2017, but none of the money was used to pay the IRS, according to Wolff.
Richard never informed the IRS about the company and the company never filed any corporate or employment tax returns, Wolff said.
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