A former co-owner of the Augusta-County-based business Nexus was scheduled to go to trial this month for tax evasion. The court put off the case to January, and an appeal filed on Monday could delay it even further. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
Richard Moore, once a co-owner of the immigration bond business Nexus, has been accused of withholding $1.8 million from the IRS in income, Medicare, and social security taxes he took out of employees' paychecks. The trial was scheduled to begin December 2. As WMRA previously reported, his attorney said in late November that Moore may assert a "reliance-of-counsel defense," so the court authorized prosecutors to subpoena two law firms for relevant documents.
Then, Moore's attorney named other lawyers that had given him pertinent tax advice, and said he is "working on more," according to an emergency motion for additional subpoenas. In response, Nexus as a business entity and Micheal Donovan – Nexus' founder and Moore's husband – filed to quash the subpoenas, saying they had not waived their attorney-client privilege.
Prosecutors called these motions "more plays for delay. Why else would a person try to thwart his husband's defense in a criminal trial?"
Moore did file for the trial to be delayed, citing in part the large number of documents being produced, which "could change the plea dynamics of this case."
After a hearing on November 27, Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon ordered the trial rescheduled to begin January 6. She also ruled that Donovan had not proved he has an attorney-client privilege in the information sought. She did partially grant Nexus' motion, saying that the court would review the information provided by attorneys before deeming it admissible.
On Monday, Nexus and Donovan appealed the judge's decision to quash their motions to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which could further delay Moore's trial.
The prosecutors and defense have also been sparring over how far cross-examination of a certain witness can go. The witness previously handled Nexus' payroll, and the government wants to prevent Nexus from questioning her about competing, reciprocal allegations of sexual misconduct between her family and Donovan and Moore's. The court has not yet ruled on that motion.
