Former Latitude 360 CEO indicted on federal payroll tax fraud charges

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The embattled former CEO of entertainment company Latitude 360 is now facing federal payroll tax fraud charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release Friday.

Brent Brown is charged with 17 counts of failing to remit to the IRS payroll taxes withheld from employees of four businesses that he operated under the umbrella of Latitude 360, the release detailed.

Action News Jax has been following developments in the case against Brown since January 2016, when Latitude 360′s Jacksonville location abruptly closed its doors. In May 2016, former Action News Jax reporter Jenna Bourne confronted Brown over accusations that he owed millions of dollars to employees, contractors, landlords and lenders. “This is not appropriate,” Brown said, as Bourne started asking questions.

According to the indictment, Brown operated four subsidiaries – Latitude 360 Jacksonville LLC, Latitude 360 Indianapolis LLC, Latitude 360 Pittsburgh LLC, and Latitude 360 Albany LLC, over which he exercised exclusive authority to determine the use of business funds.

“Those subsidiaries each withheld taxes from employee wages, including federal income taxes and Federal Insurance Contributions Act (“FICA”) taxes, which the subsidiaries were required to remit to the Internal Revenue Service periodically. Brown filed quarterly tax returns for each of the subsidiaries accurately reflecting the payroll taxes due for each of the subsidiaries but he caused those subsidiaries to fail to remit to the IRS the full amounts due. The taxes owed are alleged to total more than $1 million,” the release said.

If convicted, Brown faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in federal prison on each count.

RELATED COVERAGE:

[ Latitude 360 closes its doors on the Southside ]

[ Report: Latitude 360 didn’t report wages ]

[ State Attorney’s Office investigating Latitude 360 ]

[ Latitude 360 CEO Brent Brown in BuzzFeed report: ‘I don’t owe anybody s---’ ]

[ Main Entertainment Event opens in Jacksonville at former Latitude 360 ]

[ Jacksonville mansion where Latitude 360 CEO lived cited for illegal events ]

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