Former Defense Contractor Manager Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion

Concealed More Than $870,000 in Income

WASHINGTON — The Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5) welcomed today the guilty plea of a former manager for a defense contractor to tax evasion in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

From 2010 through 2016, Ronald L. Thomas, of Wellington, Florida, worked in Afghanistan, Oman and the United Arab Emirates for a U.S. Department of Defense contracting company as a project director and in other roles. In 2016 and 2017, Thomas served as a paid consultant for a Mexican oil and gas venture. From 2010 to 2017 Thomas evaded taxes owed to the IRS by underreporting to his tax preparer the salaries and bonuses he earned for each of those years. In total, Thomas did not report approximately $870,000 in compensation he earned from 2010 through 2017, causing a tax loss to the government of more than $227,000.

Thomas is the third defendant associated with the defense contracting company to plead guilty. Charles Squires pleaded guilty to tax evasion in February 2022, and James Robar pleaded guilty to tax evasion in March 2022.

IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction are conducting the investigation and assistance was provided by the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement.

Thomas is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, restitution and other monetary penalties.

The J5 leads the fight against international tax crime and money laundering, including cryptocurrency threats and those who undertake, enable or facilitate global tax evasion. They work together to gather information, share intelligence and conduct coordinated operations against transnational financial crimes. The J5 includes the Australian Taxation Office, the Canadian Revenue Agency, the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs from the U.K. and IRS-CI from the U.S.

For more information about the J5, please visit www.irs.gov/j5.

JUSTIN COLE [email protected] 202-768-2110