FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

January 23, 2004

John Yembrick             
P. O. Box 61129 Houston, TX 77208
Phone: 713/567-9388 Fax: 713/718-3389
E-Mail: usatty.txs@usdoj.gov

LOCAL BUSINESSMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO IMPEDING THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE

(HOUSTON) United States Attorney Michael Shelby announced today that Donald Lee Husk, age 47, pled guilty to an indictment which charged him with impeding and obstructing the Internal Revenue Service in its administration of the internal revenue laws.

During the plea colloquy with the court, Husk admitted that he had failed to pay in excess of $270,000 in payroll taxes he owed the IRS since the mid-1980s. The payroll taxes were owed by Husk from four restoration companies he owned and operated in Phoenix, Arizona: United Dynamics, Inc.; Global Restoration, Inc.; Global Restoration of Texas, Inc.: and Fargo Construction Company, Inc. Instead of paying the taxes, Husk abandoned the Arizona companies and moved to Houston, Texas, in 1987. In 1990, Husk incorporated Greenwood Restoration USA, Inc. (Greenwood) and became its only shareholder. Husk lived out of the Greenwood account. During 1994 and 1995 alone, Husk received the benefit of over $275,000.00 in Greenwood corporate funds. Of the $275,000, $174,000 was received directly by Husk either in checks made payable to him or to cash, and the remainder went to pay his personal expenses such as his home mortgage and various credit cards.

Beginning in early 1995, the IRS began actively pursuing Husk in Houston in an attempt to collect the Arizona taxes. Husk convinced a relative who worked for him to place Greenwood in his name to keep its assets from being seized by the IRS. Husk amended his personal return and the Greenwood return for 1992 to remove himself and substitute the relative as the owner. Husk also filed the 1993 Greenwood return that falsely reflected the relative as the owner. Husk continued to run Greenwood and use its proceeds as his own, despite the alleged change in ownership. Later, Husk convinced his part-time bookkeeper to place the business in her name to protect it from the IRS. Again, Husk amended his personal return and the Greenwood return for 1994 to remove himself and substitute the bookkeeper as the owner. Husk also filed the 1995 Greenwood return which falsely reflected the bookkeeper as the owner. Husk never filed his 1995 tax return. Husk continued to control all facets of Greenwood, including its bank account. As he had done in the past, Husk continued to pay personal expenses and removed cash from the corporate account.

During the same time-period, Husk failed to pay over in excess of $21,000.00 of trust fund taxes due from Greenwood for the second and third quarters of 1995. A second Revenue Officer was assigned to collect those taxes. To obstruct the IRS from collecting both the Arizona taxes and the Greenwood payroll taxes, Husk admitted he signed various IRS documents under penalties of perjury and provided a fraudulent personal tax return to the IRS Revenue Officers attempting to collect those taxes. In the documents, Husk falsely portrayed himself as a sales estimator and a glorified salesman for Greenwood. He claimed that he had been hired by the part-time bookkeeper when it was he who had hired the bookkeeper. Finally, Husk admitted that he lied to federal agents about his ownership of Greenwood during the criminal investigation, which ultimately led to his indictment.

Husk faces a possible sentence of three years imprisonment, one year supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. As part of his plea agreement, Husk agreed to pay the IRS over $280,000 in back taxes owed from the Arizona companies and Greenwood Restoration. His sentencing is scheduled for April 09, 2004.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Al Balboni.

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