Kenneth William Griffin, Wire Fraud, Texas 2012

Kenneth William Griffin, a 62-year-old San Antonio businessman, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a scheme that resulted in a loss of approximately $169,052.82 to the State of Texas.

Griffin, also known as Ted Baker, owned and operated The Restaurant Repair Company in San Antonio, Texas, and performed restaurant equipment service, sales, and installation in the city.

According to the indictment and Griffin’s plea of guilty, he or an employee at his direction electronically filed materially false monthly sales tax returns for The Restaurant Repair Company from January 1, 2010, through January 20, 2012. The filings falsely understated the company’s taxable sales by approximately 90%, and Griffin routinely paid the State of Texas only about 10% of the actual sales taxes collected from customers that were due and owing.

Griffin’s scheme to defraud the State of Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts resulted in a significant loss for the state, and he now faces up to five years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, and restitution of the amount of the loss.

Griffin’s case has also raised questions about his hosting of a weekly radio talk show that promoted ways to avoid paying sales taxes.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigation Division, and the Texas Comptroller’s Criminal Investigation Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Roomberg prosecuted the case.

Griffin is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. The court has not yet set a specific date for sentencing.

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