The former CFO of an Austin, Texas-based professional employer organization, John Herzer, pleaded guilty Monday to willfully failing to pay over employment taxes to the Internal Revenue Service, the US Department of Justice announced. 

According to court documents, Herzer was the CFO of AXO Staff Leasing from 2010 to 2016. He handled the company’s finances, including collecting and paying to the IRS taxes withheld from AXO’s employees’ wages.  According to the Justice Department’s Tax Division, Herzer did not pay AXO’s employment tax withholdings to the IRS and instead used more than $4.9 million of those funds for his own benefit, including paying personal expenses and transferring millions of dollars to his own bank accounts.  

In total, Herzer’s fraudulent conduct caused a tax loss to the IRS of more than $13 million, according to the Department of Justice. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled. Herzer faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years imprisonment, as well as a term of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.