Software company owner indicted in Tulsa

Tulsa software development company owner Earenest Grayson has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges he failed to pay payroll taxes withheld from his employees’ wages. The grand jury also indicted him on charges of failing to pay his individual and corporate income tax returns.

“Earenest Grayson is an alleged dishonest employer who cheated both his employees and the United States government. As tax day approaches, I hope his story will dissuade other business owners from trying to cheat the system. Millions of honest small businesses pay their fair share of taxes to finance government operations. Unfortunately, Mr. Grayson’s choice not do so has subjected him to criminal prosecution,” stated U.S. Attorney Trent Shores.

The indictment alleges he did not pay withholding taxes in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and failed to pay his own taxes in the same years.

According to the allegations in the indictment, as Zealcon’s owner, Grayson was responsible for reporting and paying over payroll taxes withheld from the wages paid to his employees. The indictment alleges that Grayson knew of this obligation and intentionally failed to account for or pay over to the IRS more than $300,000 in taxes that had been withheld from employee wages from January 2014 through June 2016. The indictment further charges that for the years 2013-2015, Grayson did not file corporate income tax returns on behalf of Zealcon or individual income tax returns for himself, despite being legally required to do so.

If convicted, Grayson faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for each count of failure to account for and pay over payroll taxes and one year in prison for each count of failure to file a tax return. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.