Houston man arrested for failing to pay employment taxes

HOUSTON, TX -- A federal grand jury has returned an indictment against a local company owner for failing to file employment tax returns and failing to pay over taxes his company withheld from employee paychecks, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei and Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Matters Karen Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

Joseth Limon is expected to make his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christina A. Bryan at 2 p.m.

According to the indictment, Limon allegedly owned Platinum Employment Group Inc., a company that supplied laborers to businesses in the Houston area. The indictment alleges that between 2016 and 2018, Platinum paid its employees over $3.5 million and withheld over $450,000 from their paychecks. During that period, however, Limon allegedly failed to pay to the IRS the employment taxes that Platinum withheld from its employees’ paychecks and failed to file any employment tax returns on behalf of Platinum.

If convicted, Limon faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and up to a $250,000 possible fine.

IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Shirin Hakimzadeh and Trial Attorney Curtis Weidler of the Department of Justice’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.