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Northwest Louisiana businessman pleads guilty to money laundering

Updated: 23-10-2024, 05.16 PM

A Northwest Louisiana businessman will face up to 10 years in prison after using Employee Retention Credits to pay personal expenses, including gambling debts.

Brian T. Owen, 52, of Caddo Parish, Louisiana, pleaded guilty yesterday to money laundering, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A Bill of Information was filed on September 30, 2024, charging Owen with one count of money laundering after an investigation conducted by state and federal law enforcement agencies into Owen’s unlawful activities as president of an oilfield consulting service business headquartered in Bossier City.

On June 22, 2020, the company filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

In January 2021, as part of the company’s bankruptcy plan of reorganization, a Distribution Trust was established to pay back creditors, and Owen executed a Distribution Trust Agreement as president of the company. According to this plan, if Owen received any additional compensation from the company, he was required to pay 30% of that directly to the Distribution Trust.

In 2021, the company began applying for Employee Retention Credits (“ERCs”), a refundable tax credit for certain eligible businesses and tax-exempt organizations that had employees and were affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Owen then devised a scheme to defraud the Distribution Trust by intercepting the physical U.S. Department of Treasury Checks before they were deposited into the company’s working accounts. Unbeknownst to other senior leadership at the company, Owen had opened a bank account in the company’s name while it was still in bankruptcy. As part of the scheme, he deposited a total of $3.8 million in ERC funds for himself as additional compensation. Owen did not pay the Distribution Trust the 30% as he had agreed, but instead used the money for his own personal expenses, including to pay off gambling debts. In total, he defrauded the Distribution Trust out of $1,157,154.39.

Owen could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Northwest Louisiana businessman pleads guilty to money laundering

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