A chief executive of two technology companies located in Denver, Colorado was found guilty of a host of charges, including impeding the administration of tax laws, conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to steal employee benefit plan funds.
A federal jury convicted Riordan Maynard, age 50 of Centennial, following a seven-day jury trial. Maynard served as the CEO of Touchbase USA and its successor company Touchbase Global Services.
TBGSI offered a 401(k) plan to employees of both TBGSI and TBUSA.
Maynard worked with a co-conspirator to steal funds that employees had directed TBGSI to withhold from their paychecks for 401(k) plans, and ultimately stole over $60,000 of 401(k) withholdings and used them for other TBGSI expenses.
TBGSI also claimed to offer a healthcare benefit program to TBGSI employees.
In 2017, TBGSI claimed to contribute $600 per month to each participant’s premiums. Participants were responsible for the remainder of the premium cost.
TBGSI was responsible for forwarding the full premium to the health insurance carrier. Maynard was convicted of stealing over $50,000 in funds that employees had withheld from their paychecks for their health insurance plans.
Maynard then failed to pay for health insurance coverage. By June 2017, TBGSI owed over $100,000 to the health insurance carrier, which then terminated coverage for the employees.
Numerous employee healthcare claims were denied.
Tax evasion
TBUSA and TBGSI were also required to pay payroll taxes to the IRS.
From early 2012 through September 2017, Maynard “corruptly impeded the IRS’s attempts to collect these taxes,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Maynard closed TBUSA and reopened it as TBGSI to avoid paying more than $2.5 million in unpaid payroll taxes owed.
TBGSI then ran up an additional unpaid payroll tax liability of over $2 million.
Maynard transferred funds from business accounts to his personal account to avoid IRS levies.
And he conspired with a co-conspirator to falsely tell TBGSI customers that IRS levies they had received were in error, in an effort to prevent customers from sending money to the IRS.
Maynard is scheduled to be sentenced on August 12.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
