A California man has admitted to failing to pay employment taxes, resulting in a significant tax loss. John Comeau, the CEO of Vivid, Inc., based in Santa Clara, entered a guilty plea for not remitting employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Court documents reveal that Vivid, Inc., a company offering metal coating services in Campbell and other locations, withheld Social Security, Medicare, and income taxes from employee wages between early 2010 and late 2019. Despite being responsible for reporting and paying these funds to the IRS, Comeau did not fulfill this obligation.
The total tax loss attributed to Comeau's actions amounts to approximately $1.15 million. His sentencing is scheduled for April 30, 2025. He could face up to five years in prison along with supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. The final sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge after reviewing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey; Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division; and IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Oakland Field Office Special Agent in Charge Linda Nguyen.
The investigation is being conducted by IRS-CI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ilham Hosseini and Trial Attorney Mahana Weidler of the Tax Division.