KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Kansas City, Mo., man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to tax evasion.
Steven Matthews, 48, of Kansas City, was charged in a five-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. That indictment was unsealed and made public upon Matthews’s arrest this morning and initial court appearance this afternoon.
The federal indictment charges Matthews with one count of tax evasion, one count of corruptly impeding the due administration of the internal revenue laws and three counts of failure to file tax returns.
From May 2011 to May 2015, the indictment says, Matthews attempted to evade payment of the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty assessed against him personally for withholding that wasn’t paid for the quarters ending December 2002 through June 2003 for the trust fund taxes of Winntech Digital Systems (where he served as the Chief Financial Officer). Matthews allegedly also attempted to evade payment of income tax owed by him for 2008.
According to the indictment, Matthews used corporate funds to pay his personal expenses, created a false deed of trust for a condominium he owned, placed money into an attorney trust account that was then used to pay his personal expenses, established a corporation (SLM Consultants, LLC) using his mother’s Social Security number and listing his mother as the sole member, and dealt in cash from 2011 through 2015, all in an effort to evade payment of taxes and to impede the due administration of the internal revenue laws.
The indictment also alleges that Matthews failed to file federal income tax returns on income earned during 2012, 2014 and 2015.
Larson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
