Court documents reveal a legal strategy that Richard Moore, a former co-owner of the business Nexus, may use at his upcoming tax evasion trial. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
Richard Moore, a former executive of the Verona-based immigration bond business Nexus, is accused of bilking the IRS out of $1.8 million in income, Medicare, and social security taxes he took out of employees' paychecks. His trial is scheduled to begin December 2 in the U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg.
According to court documents filed this week, Moore's attorney, Mario Williams, told prosecutors in a phone call that Moore might assert a "reliance-of-counsel defense" about advice he purportedly received from an attorney regarding paying those taxes. After a pretrial conference on Wednesday, the court authorized prosecutors to subpoena two law firms for relevant information.
Moore is currently out on bond after being released from federal custody earlier this month. Part of the conditions of his release were hiring an accountant to ensure employment taxes are paid for his business Gamer Oasis.
A former Gamer Oasis employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said their paychecks often bounced. They provided WMRA with a copy of an e-check digitally signed by Moore showing their wages were paid by the company Fixify Solutions LLC earlier this year. State Corporation Commission documents record Moore registering the LLC in 2020.
As WMRA previously reported, Gamer Oasis is currently going through eviction proceedings in Harrisonburg, but remains open. Court records show the game store was previously evicted from locations in Front Royal and Winchester. A Nov. 12 hearing did not resolve a dispute over an alleged 11 months of unpaid rent at the Harrisonburg store. The court set a trial date in that case for Feb. 7.
