The former EVP at the Augusta County-based Nexus Services was sentenced to 80 months in prison for IRS tax fraud today in federal court.
The legal ramifications for living a life of luxury in lieu of paying taxes to the IRS finally caught up with Richard Moore, the former executive vice president and part owner of the Verona-based Nexus Services Inc.
The path to sentencing was anything but routine and had been postponed not once, but twice, the first time after Moore posted on social media about suicide, and the second after his lawyers asked for a mental competency test.
This week, in possibly yet another attempt to stall his sentencing, Moore announced he had fired his legal team just days before sentencing.
The judge refused to have allow for any additional delays and denied the motion that would have allowed the attorneys to step aside.
Moore pleaded guilty in January to two counts of not accounting for and paying employment taxes to the IRS. The charges stem from federal income taxes withheld from employees’ wages but never paid to the IRS. Moore was responsible for withholding Social Security, Medicare and income taxes from wages at Nexus Services.
From 2016 to 2024, Moore did not file tax returns, according to court documents.
While he didn’t pay the IRS, he spent millions of the company’s cash on fancy cars, a lavish wedding and more. According to the Department of Justice, he spent $500,000 on three Ferraris, three Maseratis, two BMWs and a Mercedes Benz. He also spent approximately $573,000 on his nuptials and paid more than $1 million to publish and publicize a book written by his spouse.
ICYMI
Moore was originally indicted on 10 counts of tax fraud.
Beyond his prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon for the Western District of Virginia ordered three years of supervised release and $3,023,984 in restitution to the United States.
The legal woes aren’t over for Moore with today’s sentencing.
He is one of three people that allegedly stole $426,000 from Zachary Cruz, the brother of Parkland High School mass shooter Nikolas Cruz, who relocated to Augusta County for a fresh start and moved in with Moore and his spouse, Michael Donovan.
Those two, and a third person, Timothy Shipe, all face charges of obtaining money by false pretenses and associated crimes for allegedly draining the victim’s bank account. The trial is scheduled to begin in March.
Moore, Donovan and a third part-owner, Evan Ajin, have also been ordered to pay more than $811 million in restitution and civil penalties in a case brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the attorneys general in Virginia, Massachusetts and New York. Among the allegations was that Nexus required clients to sign confusing and misleading contracts in English, primarily to people who did not speak or read English and didn’t understand what was in the document.
Related stories
- Federal judge orders Nexus Services to pay $811M in consumer fraud case
- Augusta County: Court documents allege that Nexus Services owners drained victim’s bank account
- Augusta County: Arrests made in connection with investigation of Nexus Services
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Crystal Graham
