A Wilmington based contractor will spend 48 months in prison after being convicted of fraud and tax evasion.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 45-year-old William Holley, who owned the demolition company Holly Enterprises, routinely withheld tax payments and contributions to his employees benefit plans.
Holley and his business partner Joseph Funk, were both found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in March, and each individually were charged with multiple other counts of fraud and tax evasion.
Between 2004 and 2007, the courts says Holley: paid federal payroll taxes for only three or four workers, when the company employed more than 50 workers; failed to pay employees prevailing wage mandated by the state; failed to pay monies owed to employee benefit plans for union-affiliated employees.
In order to cover up these various fraud schemes, the court said Holley, who lives in Middletown, made various false statements to government regulators and directed that the company create and send to government officials falsified checks, false payroll sheets, false tax documents, false insurance certificates, and false address information for their employees. The combined financial loss to the victims was in excess of $1 million.
Funk’s sentencing hearing was scheduled for August 24, 2010 before Judge Robinson. However, he did not appear for that sentencing and is currently a fugitive.
“Throughout Delaware, in the construction industry and in other industries, there are many business owners who do the right things – who pay their taxes, who pay their workers the legally-required wage and who satisfy their commitments to union employees,” said U.S. Attorney David Weiss. “The defendant in this case not only failed to do these things for years, but he committed various types of fraud and made many false statements in order to cover it up.
“The Court’s sentence makes clear that those who act above the law in running their business will face significant punishment,” he said. “But this prosecution also sends a message that the federal government will fight to ensure that there is a level playing field – one not infected by fraud – for the law-abiding business owners of our State.”
