Brent Brown, former CEO of the Latitude 360 entertainment venue in Jacksonville and three other cities, is charged with 17 counts of failing to remit to the IRS payroll taxes withheld from employees.
If convicted, Brown could receive a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison on each count, according to a news release from the IRS.
According to the indictment, Brown incorporated Latitude 360 in Jacksonville around January 2014. He operated four subsidiaries: Latitude 360 Jacksonville LLC, Latitude 360 Indianapolis LLC, Latitude 360 Pittsburgh LLC and Latitude 360 Albany LLC, over which he exercised exclusive authority to determine the use of business funds.
The subsidiaries withheld taxes from employee wages, including federal income taxes and Federal Insurance Contributions Act taxes, which the subsidiaries were required to remit to the IRS.
The government contends that Brown filed quarterly tax returns for each of the subsidiaries accurately reflecting the payroll taxes due for each of the subsidiaries, but he caused those subsidiaries to fail to remit to the IRS the full amounts due.
The taxes owed are calculated by the IRS to total more than $1 million.
The Jacksonville location near The Avenues mall and the Indianapolis location closed in January 2016 to settle an eviction lawsuit filed against Latitude 360 by the landlord of both properties, claiming that Brown owed nearly $3 million in past due rent.
An indictment is a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty, said the release.
The case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Cofer Taylor.
