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New Haven County resident Christopher Jardine, age 55, of Guilford, appeared in federal court in Bridgeport Friday, April 29, where he pleaded guilty to one count of willful failure to pay over withholding taxes, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
Federal prosecutors said between 2016 and 2019, Jardine failed to collect and pay over the federal income and Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) taxes that were withheld from employees’ paychecks at his Branford-based construction company.
FICA taxes include Medicare and social security taxes.
In all, prosecutors said Jardine’s actions resulted in underpaying the IRS by approximately $868,000.
Despite telling the IRS that his company lacked the ability to pay, he spent millions of dollars in company funds on personal expenses that included a 52-foot cigarette boat, a Range Rover, and high end clothing, prosecutors said.
Investigators said company money was also used to make payments on behalf of another Guilford-based business controlled by Jardine.
In pleading guilty, he admits to evading payment of the withheld employee taxes and the company’s share of FICA taxes, prosecutors said.
He also acknowledged that he evaded the payment of personal income tax liabilities for multiple tax years between 2007 and 2015.
In addition to the more than $2 million dollars in restitution that he’s agreed to pay the IRS, Jardine faces up to five years in federal prison.
He’s scheduled to be sentenced Friday, July 8.
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