A federal grand jury has indicted an Ohio trucking company owner, alleging she failed to pay approximately $1.2 million in taxes in a yearslong scheme.
Alice F. Martin, 59, of Louisville, Ohio, was charged with seven counts of tax evasion, according to the indictment filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division.
Prosecutors allege that Martin attempted to evade the assessment of income taxes from 2013 through 2018 and attempted to evade paying taxes, penalties and interest from 2011 through 2013, through her company, Martin Logistics of Canton, Ohio.
According to the indictment, Martin failed to report nearly $3.5 million in earned income during those five years and failed to pay nearly $1.2 million in taxes from companies she owned that brokered and hauled military loads for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Martin’s initial court appearance is set for Wednesday in federal court.
What happened?
The indictment alleges that Martin Logistics started experiencing financial problems in 2012, which carried over into 2013, and that the IRS initiated collection efforts, including filing several tax liens against the company in June 2012. Prosecutors claim Martin Logistics was sued by various parties during this time, resulting in several monetary judgments and settlements against it. The indictment states that many trucking companies also declined to haul freight for Martin Logistics because the company was not promptly paying them for hauling the brokered DOD loads.
According to the indictment, Martin instructed an employee, who had worked for her at Martin Logistics, to set up and run a new division of the company called TSA Transportation. After obtaining authorization for TSA Transportation to broker and haul DOD loads, the income it received was deposited into a bank account of another entity that Martin controlled, A.F. Martin.
“In addition, Martin placed Martin Logistics’ assets, including trucks and trailers, into the name of yet another Martin-owned company, Martin Global,” the indictment states.
Prosecutors claim that from around 2013 to 2018, Martin directed approximately $18 million in gross receipts associated with TSA Transportation contracts to be deposited into the A.F. Martin banking account. The indictment states that Martin regularly failed to file individual and corporate tax returns related to her trucking entities and failed to pay income taxes.
“Martin also made several misrepresentations to the IRS related to the finances of Martin Logistics,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio. “After her fraudulent scheme was discovered, Martin caused several more misrepresentations to be made to the IRS related to the filing status of her income tax returns.”
If convicted, Martin faces up to five years in prison and up to a $100,000 fine.
As of publication, Martin had not responded to FreightWaves’ request for comment.
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