GUILFORD, CT — Christopher Jardine, 55, of Guilford, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to serve 15 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release, for failing to pay business and personal taxes, the US Attorney for Connecticut said. Jardine was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and $2,070,000 in restitution to the IRS, most of the latter has already been paid, according to US Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery.
According to Avery, court documents and statements made in court, Jardine, a part owner of D&A Construction Management, Inc., a Branford-based construction company, was responsible for company’s finances, including collecting and paying over certain employee federal taxes. Those taxes included federal income taxes and Federal Insurance Contribution Act taxes, which include Medicare and social security taxes. And he was responsible for “ensuring that D&A, as an employer, paid its own share of FICA taxes,” Avery said.
According to the US Attorney, an investigation found that although Jardine and D&A withheld employees’ federal income and FICA taxes over multiple tax periods between 2016 and 2019 and reported those withholdings to the IRS, they failed to pay over the withheld amounts, totaling approximately $868,000.
Jardine also told the IRS that “D&A lacked the ability to pay, but he used more than $1 million in company funds to pay personal expenses, including purchases of a 52-foot cigarette boat, a Range Rover, high-end clothing, and auto parts, and to make payments on behalf of Straight Jacket USA, LLC, a Guilford business controlled by Jardine,” the US Attorney said.
On April 28, Jardine pleaded guilty to one count of willful failure to pay over withholding taxes, admitting that he evaded payment of the withheld employee taxes, as well as D&A’s share of FICA taxes, for multiple quarters during the 2016 through 2019 tax years, the US Attorney said.
Jardine also “acknowledged that he evaded the payment of personal income tax liabilities for multiple tax years between 2007 and 2015,” she noted
Out on a $50,000 bond, he must report to prison on Feb. 28, per Avery.
The investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Conor M. Reardon.
