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A federal grand jury in Charleston, West Virginia today indicted a Paineville man on charges of willfully failing to pay employment taxes and obstructing the IRS’s collection efforts.
According to the lawsuit, Christopher J. Smith of Wyoming County Best Ambulance Service Inc., Stat Ambulance Service Inc. and Stat EMS LLC, all of which provided ambulance services in Wyoming County, West Virginia. Smith was allegedly responsible for collecting and paying IRS employment taxes withheld from the wages of employees of the three companies. Although he allegedly took these funds from State Ambulance Service employees’ wages, Smith did not pay the full employee deduction or the full employer’s share to the IRS. After the IRS levied penalties on Smith for nonpayment of these funds, he discontinued Stat Ambulance Service and created Stat EMS in the name of the prospective owner. However, Smith maintained that he continued to operate the new ambulance business in the same manner as his old company and did not pay the IRS all the employment taxes owed on behalf of Stat EMS employees.
After the IRS attempted to collect unpaid employment taxes for Stat EMS, as well as the resulting penalties, Smith allegedly attempted to obstruct the IRS’s efforts by making false and misleading statements. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Smith does not own Stat EMS and does not have a personal bank account. To further hinder the IRS’s collection efforts, Smith paid personal expenses from Stat EMS business bank accounts, transferred them from Stat EMS to a bank account he controlled, and transferred his own payments to a bank account in someone else’s name.
Smith is scheduled to appear in court the following day before the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. If convicted, Smith faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for each of four counts of willful underpayment of employment taxes and obstructing the IRS. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering US sentencing guidelines and other legal factors.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Department of Justice’s Tax Division and United States Attorney William S. Thompson for the Southern District of West Virginia
IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the matter.
District Attorneys Alexander Effendi and Andrew Assenyo of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric for the Southern District of West Virginia are prosecuting the case.
Charges are only charges and all accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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