Former Florida tech CEO faces prison sentence related to alleged fraud scheme

FLORIDA –– A former Florida tech company CEO accused of creating a shell company to receive payments for fictitious consulting services has pleaded guilty to tax evasion, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced.

A district court judge accepted the guilty plea last week of the former CEO of a Jacksonville company who reportedly admitted to evading income taxes owed to the IRS based on a fraud he ran on his employer, the Department of Justice said in its statement.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2015 and 2016, Jason Cory was a manager at a New York-based information technology services. From 2017 through 2019, Cory was the CEO of a different information technology services company based in Jacksonville.

From 2015 through 2018, Cory is alleged to have used his positions as manager and CEO at the two companies to cause his employers to reportedly direct a total of more than $1.5 million to Gambit Matrix LLC, a shell company he controlled.

With respect to the second employer, Cory allegedly did so under the false pretense the payments were for consulting services. In reality, Gambit Matrix did not provide consulting services, and there was no justification for these payments, the DOJ said.

According to the DOJ, Cory did not report the income he earned through transfers to Gambit Matrix on his tax return for 2015. He also did not file tax returns for the years 2016 through 2018 as required by law.

To conceal the fraud scheme from the second employer and evade taxes on his income for these years, the DOJ said Cory invented fictitious owners of Gambit Matrix, made false representations to his employer, and falsified emails and IRS Forms W-9 (Request for Taxpayer Identification Number).

Cory allegedly used the money directed to Gambit Matrix to pay for personal expenses such as credit card bills, rent, and club memberships. Cory admitted that between 2015 and 2018, he evaded more than $600,000 in taxes, the DOJ said.

Cory is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 30, 2023, and faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement.

The FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David B. Mesrobian for the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Richard J. Hagerman of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.