Greensboro Business Owner Sentenced to Prison for Employment Tax Fraud

A Greensboro, North Carolina, business owner was sentenced to 18 months in prison yesterday for failing to pay employment taxes, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Matthew G.T. Martin for the Middle District of North Carolina.

According to documents and information provided to the court, Elizabeth Wood, 40, and her mother Rebecca Adams, 57, operated a temporary staffing businesses in Greensboro under the names A & R Staffing Solutions, Inc., Wood Executive Services Inc., and Adams Staffing Enterprises Inc. Wood and her mother withheld federal and state taxes from employees’ paychecks but did not pay those taxes over to the IRS or the State of North Carolina. In 2015, Wood pleaded guilty to embezzling employee state tax withholdings and was sentenced to prison. After her release, Wood resumed her role at the staffing business where she continued to withhold federal taxes from employees’ paychecks, but again did not pay those taxes over to the IRS. She also did not file with the IRS the required quarterly payroll tax return.

On Feb. 5, 2020, Wood and her mother, Adams, pleaded guilty to failing to pay over employment taxes. Adams is scheduled to be sentenced on July 9, 2020.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. Senior District Judge N. Carlton Tilley Jr., ordered Wood to serve three years of supervised release and to pay approximately $2,338,766 in restitution to the United States. 

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Martin thanked special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorney Kevin Schneider of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Chut, who are prosecuting the case.