Owner of Oregon Tree Company Indicted for Employment Tax Crimes and Not Filing Tax Returns

A federal grand jury in Portland, Oregon, returned an indictment earlier this week charging a business owner with not paying employment taxes and not filing tax returns.

According to the indictment, Joyce Leard, of Boring, Oregon, owned and operated Mr. Tree Inc., a Happy Valley, Oregon-based company that provided tree removal and landscaping services to customers. Between 2018 and 2020, Mr. Tree allegedly employed approximately 50 to 75 employees. Leard was allegedly responsible for withholding Social Security, Medicare and income taxes from her employees’ wages and paying those funds over to the IRS each quarter. She was also responsible for filing quarterly tax returns with the IRS.

From the fourth quarter of 2018 through the fourth quarter of 2020, Leard allegedly withheld approximately $655,000 from employees’ wages but did not pay over all those funds to the IRS or file quarterly tax returns as required by law. Instead of paying all the funds over, Leard allegedly purchased real estate that was titled in her name. Finally, according to the indictment, Leard did not file individual tax returns for 2018 through 2020, as required by law.

If convicted, Leard faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each employment tax charge and a maximum penalty of one year in prison for each failure to file a return charge. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys J. Parker Gochenour and Megan E. Wessel of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.