Mari Alexander, Employment Tax Crimes, South Carolina 2023
A former Tennessee mental health center owner has been charged with employment tax crimes that allegedly caused a tax loss of more than $1 million to the IRS.
Mari Alexander, of Columbia, South Carolina, was the owner and president of Ross Behavioral Group, a mental health counseling center with multiple locations in middle Tennessee.
According to the indictment, from at least 2011 through 2023, Alexander controlled Ross Behavioral Group’s financial affairs and was responsible for withholding Social Security, Medicare and federal income taxes from employees’ wages and paying them over to the IRS.
However, from at least 2015 through 2020, Alexander allegedly withheld these taxes from her employees’ wages, but did not fully pay the withheld taxes over to the IRS.
Each year, from at least 2015 through 2020, Alexander allegedly issued IRS Forms W-2, Wage and Tax Statements and paystubs to the employees that showed taxes taken out of their pay, which falsely implied that the withheld taxes were paid over to the IRS.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Jaworski for the Middle District of Tennessee made the announcement.
A federal grand jury in Nashville returned an indictment yesterday charging Alexander with 11 counts of willfully failing to account for and pay over employment taxes.
If convicted, Alexander faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on each count, as well as a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.
A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case with assistance from the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General.
Trial Attorney Ashley J. Stein of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitchell T. Galloway for the Middle District of Tennessee are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Mari Alexander is a former business owner from Columbia, South Carolina, who was charged with employment tax crimes in Tennessee.
She is alleged to have caused a tax loss of more than $1 million to the IRS.
The charges against Alexander include 11 counts of willfully failing to account for and pay over employment taxes.
She faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on each count, as well as a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.
A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Key Facts
- State: South Carolina
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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