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Instead of paying taxes withheld from employee paychecks, she funded a lavish lifestyle.

A Virginia Beach woman pleaded guilty to failing to pay over to the IRS payroll taxes that were deducted from her employees’ paychecks.

According to court documents, from at least 2011 to 2019, Wendy Brockenbrough, 53, failed to pay over to the IRS payroll taxes from the three different companies she owned.

The court records indicate that Brockenbrough issued her employees weekly paystubs and annual Form W-2s indicating that the appropriate payroll taxes were being withheld from her employees’ paychecks. While Brockenbrough withheld the taxes, she failed to pay over the amounts to the IRS.

Instead, Brockenbrough lived a lavish lifestyle by purchasing a Regulator center console boat for approximately $126,000, a Hatteras 60-foot yacht for approximately $820,000, and a Jeep Wrangler for approximately $41,000. Brockenbrough attempted to conceal her actions by lying to her accountants and stating that she made the payments. To support her claims, she forged IRS records and QuickBooks entries showing the taxes had been paid. Brockenbrough’s actions caused an approximate $2.7 million loss in unpaid payroll taxes to the IRS.

Brockenbrough faces up to 15 years in prison.[/vc_column_text][us_image image=”3094″][/vc_column][/vc_row]