NORFOLK, Va. - Napoleon Robinson, 65, of Lauderhill, Florida, was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for charges of evasion of employment tax payment. Robinson was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay over $508,000 in restitution.
Robinson pleaded guilty on Sept. 28, 2016. According to court documents, between January 2000 and December 2013, Robinson owned and operated a series of ship welding and repair businesses in New York and Virginia. Beginning in 2005, Robinson began to fall habitually behind on paying the IRS the employment taxes he withheld from his employees. Rather than make arrangements to pay as required, Robinson simply closed down one ship repair company and opened a new one in the name of a nominee owner - including his sister, his teenaged niece, and a friend. Robinson himself, however, ran these companies, made all financial and personnel decisions, and controlled the businesses’ bank accounts. Eventually, the IRS caught on to Robinson’s employment tax “pyramiding" scheme and opened an investigation into his series of businesses. In the course of that investigation, Robinson made material false statements to the IRS Revenue Officer and otherwise attempted to impede IRS’s collection efforts. The total tax due and owing resulting from Robinson’s serial ownership of these ship repair companies is just over $500,000.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Thomas Holloman, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement after sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith. Assistant U.S. Attorney V. Kathleen Dougherty prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:16-cr-111.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
