(The Center Square) – Brian T. Owen of Caddo Parish was sentenced to 30 months in prison by U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. for money laundering, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Western District of Louisiana.
Owen pleaded guilty in October of last year after diverting funds from RWDY, Inc. to use for personal expenses, including paying off gambling debts, prosecutors say. In addition to 30 months in prison, Owen received three years of supervised release, a $100,000 fine and he must pay $1.15 million in restitution.
According to records, the company filed for bankruptcy in June 2020, and in January 2021, a plan was enacted to pay back creditors using a trust fund set in place. As president, Owen oversaw the Distribution Trust Agreement. That same year, the company applied for Employee Retention Credits, or refundable tax credits for eligible businesses and tax-exempt organizations with employees affected by the pandemic.
The release says Owen intercepted the checks from the U.S. Department of Treasury before they were deposited into the company’s account.
“Unbeknownst to other senior leadership at the company, Owen had opened a bank account in the name of the company while it was still in bankruptcy. As part of the scheme, he deposited a total of $3.8 million in ERC funds for himself as additional compensation,” said the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The plan stipulated that Owen would pay 30% of any compensation received from the company to the Distribution Trust, which he did not do according to the investigation done by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Louisiana State Police. Instead, that money was used for personal expenses, prosecutors say.
