On June 14, the Department of Justice announced that Julian Russ, the Chief Financial Officer of a Mississippi company, pleaded guilty to willfully failing to report and pay over employment taxes withheld from employees’ paychecks.
Russ was the CFO of Community Construction Company, Inc. (CCC), a pipeline-maintenance and construction company based in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. On September 7, 2022, a grand jury indicted Russ with violating 26 U.S.C. § 7202, Failure to Account For, Collect, or Pay a Tax, from the third quarter of 2016 until the third quarter of 2018. Ultimately, Russ plead guilty to withholding employment taxes from CCC employees and willfully failing to pay over those taxes held in trust to the IRS. According to the government, Russ caused a tax loss to the IRS of more than $6 million.
Russ, who will be sentenced at a later date, faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.
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