JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A former Jacksonville company CEO has been sentenced to prison after attempting to evade the assessment of his federal income taxes.
Jason Cory, 49, of Jacksonville, was sentenced to 32 months in jail on Monday, according to a news release from the United States Department of Justice.
Cory held positions at various IT companies and was also the CEO of an IT service company based in Jacksonville, according to court documents.
From 2015 through 2018, documents show Cory used his positions to cause more than $1.5 million to be deposited into the bank accounts of Gambit Matrix LLC, a shell company he controlled.
As CEO, the DOJ says Cory caused transfers to Gambit Matrix under the false pretense that they were payments for consulting services that had never been provided.
Cory did not report the income he earned through transfers to Gambit Matrix on his tax return for 2015 and did not file tax returns for the years 2016 through 2018 as required by law, according to the DOJ.
To conceal the fraud scheme from the second company and evade taxes on his income for those years, the DOJ says Cory invented fictitious owners of Gambit Matrix, made false representations to his employer, and falsified emails and IRS Forms W-9.
Cory used the money directed to Gambit Matrix to pay for personal expenses such as credit card bills, rent, and club memberships. In total, authorities say Cory evaded more than $600,000 in taxes through his actions.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Court Judge Marcia Morales Howard ordered Cory to serve 36 years of supervised release and to pay approximately $606,195 in restitution to the United States.
