Former Appleton restaurant owner sentenced to federal prison for violations of federal tax laws

 

Date: July 26, 2022

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Richard G. Frohling, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on July 20, 2022, Paul R. Vanderlinden, of Appleton, Wisconsin, was sentenced to a six-month term of federal imprisonment by Senior United States District Judge William C. Griesbach.

Vanderlinden had previously entered a guilty plea in federal court in Green Bay to charges that he willfully filed a false tax return and failed to truthfully account for and pay over payroll taxes to the Internal Revenue Service. Vanderlinden was additionally ordered to pay, and has paid, restitution to the Internal Revenue Service totaling more than $168,000.

Federal law requires employers to collect payroll taxes. According to court filings, Vanderlinden willfully failed to withhold and pay over approximately $88,000 in payroll taxes between 2012 and 2016. He filed employer tax returns containing false statements regarding the wages paid to his employees. Vanderlinden also diverted business receipts into a personal bank account. He failed to include this revenue in his filings, and as a result underpaid his individual taxes by at least $30,000 during the relevant years.

This investigation was undertaken by Special Agents from the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation division. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Farris Martini.