Special to Iredell Free News
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Dena J. King announced Wednesday that the former owner of NASCAR team based in Iredell County faces federal charges.
A Charlotte grand jury returned a bill of indictment charging Ronald Devine, 67, of Burke, Va., with four counts of failure to pay payroll taxes.
Devine is the former owner of BK Racing LLC, which was based at 260 West Aviation Drive in Statesville. BK Racing fielded NASCAR teams from from 2012 to 2018, when it was liquidated as as result of a court case involving Devine and Union Bank & Trust Company over outstanding loans, according to media reports.
According to allegations in the indictment, Devine exercised control over BK Racing’s financial affairs, including having sole signature authority and control over BK Racing’s bank accounts, directing and authorizing payment of BK Racing’s bills, and authorizing the filing and payment of BK Racing’s trust fund taxes, commonly referred to as payroll taxes.
Payroll taxes are withheld from employees’ gross pay and are used by the government to fund Social Security and Medicare, and also include the income taxes withheld from the employees’ paychecks. Employers are also required to make contributions to trust fund taxes matching the amounts withheld from their employees’ pay, and to file quarterly an Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return, Form 941, indicating payment of the relevant taxes.
The indictment alleges that, starting in 2012, Devine caused BK Racing to fail to account for and pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in payroll taxes. According to the indictment, in 2017, Devine allegedly failed to pay more than $390,000 in payroll taxes due to the IRS.
The indictment further alleges that, between 2012 and 2017, instead of using the funds held in trust to pay payroll taxes due, Devine transferred more than $2 million to other businesses and entities that he owned and controlled and used some of the funds to pay for BK Racing’s expenses such as rent, utilities, and vendor bills.
Devine will have his initial appearance in federal court in Charlotte. The charge of failure to truthfully account for and pay over trust fund taxes carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the four counts in the indictment.
The charges against Devine are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King commended IRS, the FBI, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service for their investigation of the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Caryn Finley and Daniel Ryan of the Office in Charlotte are prosecuting the case.