CAVE SPRINGS, Ark. — A Cave Springs man and former general manager at several Arkansas car dealerships pleaded guilty yesterday to evading more than $263,000 in federal income taxes.
According to court records, Jonathan M. Wichman, 35, while working mainly as a car dealership general manager accessed his employer’s online payroll system and caused the dealership to not withhold any federal income taxes or employment taxes from his 2019 and 2020 wages.
During these years, Wichman earned a total of $856,882 in wages, including $360,739 from the dealership where he altered his federal tax withholdings.
Wichman did not file his tax returns with the IRS for 2019 and 2020, and he did not timely file his tax returns for tax years 2014 through 2018 despite the IRS reaching out to him.
Wichman told investigators that he knew he owed past-due taxes to the IRS, but he claimed he did not have the money, so he did not file his tax returns.
However, the investigation revealed that from 2018 through 2021, Wichman made cash transactions at various casinos and banks totaling more than $1,079,000.
In addition, from 2014 through 2022, Wichman spent more than $513,000 on luxury vehicles, a travel trailer, and a Florida vacation.
In total, Wichman did not pay $263,615 in income taxes to the IRS, and also admitted that he failed to pay income taxes to the state of Arkansas.
Wichman agreed to pay restitution, including penalties and interest, to both the U.S. Treasury and the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.
Wichman is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, with a period of supervised release, monetary penalties, and restitution.
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