A Wisconsin businessman admitted to dodging employment taxes. Douglas Larson entered a guilty plea on a federal charge for his failure to pay the IRS employment taxes that were withheld from his workers' wages. Larson owned Mods International, which did business as Mods Client Services, companies known for constructing residential and commercial structures from shipping containers, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
On a count of not truthfully accounting for and paying over employment taxes as filed on November 15, 2024, Larson was alleged to have shirked the responsibility of forwarding taxes to the IRS for quarters spanning January 2018 through September 2021. During the hearing facilitated by Senior United States District Judge William C. Griesbach, Larson conceded to his company's failure to hand over roughly $396,082.77 in employment taxes withheld from employee paychecks. This plea was taken on January 8, as per an announcement by United States Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad, as stated by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
But Larson's financial discrepancies didn't stop at the initially reported amount. The plea agreement shed light on a larger scale of delinquency – it included tax liabilities from a related company under Larson's control, both prior to and succeeding the aforementioned timeframe. The rectified tax loss confirmed in his plea totaled $1,102,805.13, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Justice awaits Larson at his sentencing, which is scheduled before Judge Griesbach on April 4, at 10:30 a.m. The stakes for Larson include a possible five-year prison term and a fine that may reach up to $250,000, not to mention up to three years of supervised release once his potential incarceration concludes. The IRS's Criminal Investigation Division spearheaded the probe into Larson's financial misdoings, with the case now in the hands of Assistant United States Attorney Zachary J. Corey, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Fiscal integrity, a foundation upon which the trust between employers and employees is built, was at the center of this case as the U.S. Attorney's Office highlighted the duty of businesses to fulfill their tax obligations. The details of this case were reported on January 13th, 2025, and according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Larson's failure to do just that compromised not only the financial system but also the rights of his employees, whose paycheck deductions never made it to the public coffers they were destined for.
