Chesapeake Biz Owner Pleads Guilty to $1.2M Tax Fraud

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — In a grim turn of events, Shane August, the 36-year-old owner and operator of a home-healthcare business in Chesapeake, has pleaded guilty to a staggering $1.2 million tax fraud scheme.

Court documents reveal that between 2013 and 2017, August engaged in a web of deceit by hiding personal bank accounts, using clandestine accounts for business transactions, and living a cash-only lifestyle to avoid detection by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

August’s malfeasance reached its zenith as he withheld employment taxes from around 60 employees and failed to remit over $900,000 of those withholdings to the IRS. Each year, he provided his workers with fraudulent employment tax forms, leading them to believe their Social Security contributions were made correctly.

But that wasn’t all. Between 2014 and 2017, August reported personal income exceeding $900,000 to the IRS yet failed to pay taxes on it. He now owes over $288,000 in back taxes for those years. Instead of using the money to settle his debts, August squandered it on personal luxuries like a luxury home building contract and a lease for a high-end vehicle.

Scheduled for sentencing on March 24, 2022, August is staring down a maximum penalty of five years in prison. However, federal sentences are typically less severe than the maximum penalties set by law. A federal district court judge will determine his fate after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other relevant factors.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Darrell Waldon, Special Agent in Charge of the IRS-CI Washington, D.C., Field Office, jointly announced the charges following the acceptance of August’s plea by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert J. Krask.

Assistant U.S. Attorney D. Mack Coleman is handling the prosecution of this case. For more information and related court documents, visit the websites of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia or the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, searching for Case No. 4:21-cr-62.