Former Tennessee Business Owner Sentenced for Over $1 Million in Employment Tax Fraud
A former Tennessee business owner was sentenced on October 15, 2026, to three years of probation and ordered to pay $1,048,840 in restitution for failing to pay employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Department of Justice announced.
According to court documents and statements made in court, 52-year-old Mari Alexander was the sole owner and president of a mental-health counseling center operating multiple locations across Tennessee. Alexander was responsible for managing the company's finances, including filing quarterly employment tax returns and withholding and remitting Social Security, Medicare, and federal income taxes from employees' wages.
From 2015 through 2020, Alexander failed to remit the collected payroll taxes to the IRS and failed to file more than 20 quarterly employment tax returns. Authorities stated that these actions resulted in a total tax loss to the United States exceeding $1 million.
Alexander pleaded guilty on April 15, 2026, to one count of willful failure to account for and pay over employment taxes.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Trial Attorney Michael L. Jones of the National Fraud Enforcement Division’s Tax Section.
US Department of Justice
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