Reynolds and Reynolds CEO Robert Brockman has been charged in a $2 billion tax evasion case, according to law enforcement officials, the largest charge in the United States.
According to a grand jury indictment filed on Oct. 1 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Brockman, 79, was charged with 39 different counts of fraud, money laundering, evidence tampering, and other related charges.
Brockman, who resides in Houston and Pitkin County, Colorado, pleaded not guilty to the charges during a Friday court appearance, according to CNN. He was released on $1 million bail.
Brockman became the CEO of the software company Reynolds and Reynolds after it absorbed Universal Computer Systems, the company he founded in 1970.
Over the last 20 years, Brockman “created a complex network of offshore companies and trusts, and appointed nominees to manage these entities for him,” according to the indictment. “These nominees were compensated and employed by BROCKMAN to act as Directors, Officers, and Trustees of BROCKMAN’s offshore structure, when, in reality, BROCKMAN completely controlled these entities and made all substantive decisions in their regard.”
The indictment also recounts alleged fraud schemes involving code names such as “Bonefish,” “Snapper,” and “Steelhead.” The Internal Revenue Service was frequently referred to as “the house.” Individuals relied on assumed identities, and one money manager was ordered to destroy documents and electronic media “using shredders, hammers, and other means,” the filing said.
“Dollar amounts aside, I have not seen this pattern of greed or concealment and cover up in my 25-plus years as a special agent,” Jim Lee, chief of the IRS Criminal Investigation Unit, said during a press conference.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Robert Brockman, CEO of multi-billion-dollar software company, indicted for decades-long #tax evasion and wire fraud schemes. Largest individual tax evasion case in U.S. history. #IRS @USAO_NDCA pic.twitter.com/558CWOK3FE
— IRS Criminal Investigation (@IRS_CI) October 15, 2020
