Keswick man sentenced to prison for failing to pay payroll taxes, making false statements on PPP loan applications

 

Date: June 2, 2023

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Des Moines, IA — A Keswick man was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for failing to pay over $700,000 in employment taxes for his business, and for making a false statement for purposes of obtaining a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan for the business.

According to court documents, during the years 2014 through 2020, Thomas Sieren was a co-owner of TCS Fabricating, Inc. and, during that time, failed to pay $703,615.69 in employment taxes to the IRS. This included the failure to pay taxes that he had collected from TCS's employees through withholding, as well as matching contributions to Social Security and Medicare. In 2020 and 2021, Sieren obtained two PPP loans on behalf of TCS in the total amount of $237,379. The PPP loan applications misrepresented that TCS had paid its payroll tax obligations.

Sieren will be required to pay TCS's unpaid payroll tax obligations, together with interest and penalties. He also will be required to pay restitution of $237,379 to the United States Small Business Administration. Following Sieren's release from prison, he will be required to serve two years of supervised release.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal made the announcement. This case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Essley prosecuted the case.