President of Consultant Firm Pleads Guilty to Employment Tax Fraud

A Richmond, Virginia, businessman pleaded guilty today to failing to collect, truthfully account for, and pay over employment taxes, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger for the Eastern District of Virginia.

According to documents and information provided to the court, Rama Gogineni was president and director of Computech Services Inc., a technology consulting services firm in Richmond, Virginia. Gogineni was also responsible for collecting, truthfully accounting for, and paying over to the IRS Social Security, Medicare, and income taxes withheld from his employees’ wages. Beginning as early as 2007 and through 2015, Gogineni did not pay over more than $980,000 in employment taxes to the IRS. During this time, Gogineni entered into three separate installment agreements with the IRS committing to make the payments, but defaulted each time.

U.S. District Judge David Novak scheduled the sentencing for Feb. 10, 2021. At sentencing, Gogineni faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison as well as a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Terwilliger thanked special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Assistant Chief Todd Ellinwood and Trial Attorney William Montague of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney David McGuire, who are prosecuting the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.