A California man, Shane Brightpath Mike, has pleaded guilty to failing to pay over employment taxes withheld from the wages of his company’s employees. Mike, who owned and was the president and chief operating officer of Excel Behavioral Services Inc., a business in Campbell, California, provided home care to persons with disabilities.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Mike failed to pay over $1 million in withheld taxes to the IRS for the fourth quarter of 2014 through the third quarter of 2015. It was revealed that Mike also used Excel’s funds to pay his personal expenses during this period.
Furthermore, Mike filed false personal income tax returns for tax years 2014 and 2015, falsely claiming credit for federal tax withholdings from wages he received from Excel, despite knowing that the funds had not been paid over to the IRS. This resulted in a tax loss of $1,177,947 to the IRS.
Mike is set to be sentenced on Sept. 24 and could face a maximum penalty of five years in prison, along with supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. The sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey for the Northern District of California announced the plea. The IRS Criminal Investigation is currently looking into the case, with Assistant Chief Matthew J. Kluge of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Griswold prosecuting the case.