Florida payroll company owner sentenced to prison for $20M tax fraud scheme
Key Points(5)
- A Florida businessman who pocketed more than $20 million in withheld payroll taxes to fund a lavish lifestyle — including the purchase of 27 Ferraris — has been sentenced to prison.
- Matthew Brown, of Palm Beach Gardens, was <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/payroll-services-company-owner-sentenced-prison">sentenced on Thursday, April 24</a>, to 50 months in federal prison for failing to pay over taxes withheld from employees’ wages and filing a false tax return.
- In addition to the prison term, U.S.
- District Judge Aileen M.
- Cannon ordered Brown to serve two years of supervised release, pay $22.4 million in restitution, and a $200,000 fine.
A Florida businessman who pocketed more than $20 million in withheld payroll taxes to fund a lavish lifestyle — including the purchase of 27 Ferraris — has been sentenced to prison.
Matthew Brown, of Palm Beach Gardens, was sentenced on Thursday, April 24, to 50 months in federal prison for failing to pay over taxes withheld from employees’ wages and filing a false tax return. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon ordered Brown to serve two years of supervised release, pay $22.4 million in restitution, and a $200,000 fine.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Brown operated multiple businesses in Martin County, including a payroll services company called Elite Payroll. The company was hired by small businesses in St. Lucie, Martin, and Palm Beach Counties to handle payroll and ensure Social Security, Medicare, and federal income taxes were paid over to the IRS.
Instead of forwarding those funds, Brown orchestrated a long-running fraud from 2014 to 2022. Prosecutors said he collected full tax payments from clients, filed false employment tax returns significantly underreporting their liabilities, and kept the difference for himself. In one example, Brown collected $219,000 from a client for a quarterly tax payment but only reported and paid $32,000 to the IRS — pocketing nearly $190,000.
The stolen money financed an extravagant lifestyle. Brown used the funds to buy commercial and residential properties, including a multimillion-dollar home, a Valhalla 55 Sport Yacht, a Falcon 50 private jet, and a fleet of luxury cars, among them Porsches, Rolls Royces, and 27 Ferraris.
Federal prosecutors emphasized that payroll taxes are critical to funding programs like Social Security and Medicare and that Brown’s scheme struck at the heart of the system.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation. Trial Attorney Andrew Ascencio of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Porter for the Southern District of Florida handled the prosecution.
The announcement was made by Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Hayden O’Bryne of the Southern District of Florida.
