Hayden O’Byrne United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida | The Florida Bar
A Florida businessman, Paul Walczak, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for employment tax crimes, including two years of supervised release and a restitution payment of $4,381,265.76 to the United States. Walczak, who managed a network of healthcare companies, failed to remit over $10 million in employment taxes and did not file personal income tax returns.
Court documents revealed that Walczak controlled entities such as Palm Health Partners and Palm Health Partners Employment Services, employing over 600 individuals with an annual payroll exceeding $24 million. His obligation was to withhold and remit Social Security, Medicare, and federal income taxes, as well as pay the employers' share of these taxes. However, he diverted these funds for personal gain, leading to a tax liability.
In 2011, Walczak did not pay two quarters of withheld taxes, prompting the IRS to initiate collection actions in 2012. Despite his partial payment in October 2014, Walczak continued to withhold taxes without remitting them. From 2016 to 2019, he withheld $7,432,223.80 and avoided paying his company's share of Social Security and Medicare taxes, totaling $3,480,111.
During this period, Walczak used business funds for personal purchases, including buying a yacht and spending over a million dollars on luxury retailers. By 2019, Walczak faced substantial civil penalties, exacerbated by his decision to stop filing personal income tax returns while receiving income from various sources.
In 2019, Walczak established a new business, NextEra, placing a family member as a majority nominal owner while maintaining control. Transactions through NextEra included transfers of substantial sums for personal expenses, evidencing further tax delinquency.
The investigation was led by IRS-CI. U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O'Byrne, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney Karen E. Kelly, and Special Agent in Charge Emmanuel Gomez announced the sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andres E. Chinchilla and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Brian Flanagan, Andrew Ascencio, and Ashley Stein prosecuted the case.
Relevant documents and details can be accessed via the District Court for the Southern District of Florida's website or PACER under case number 23-cr-80024.
