Camden County Business Owner Admits to Employment Tax Fraud

CAMDEN, N.J. - A Camden County man admitted to failing to pay over to the IRS payroll taxes for the employees of his business, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer and Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald announced.

Tyrone Pitts, 60, of Lawnside, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb to an information charging him with one count of failing to collect, truthfully account for, and pay over to the IRS payroll taxes.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From 2020 through 2023, Pitts was the owner, operator, and president of a construction company called Arline Electrical Construction Services LLC ("AECS"). Pitts had the authority to exercise significant control over AECS's financial affairs and was a "responsible person" of AECS, meaning that he was required to collect, truthfully account for, and pay over to the IRS the payroll taxes withheld from the wages of AECS's employees. However, during that same time period, Pitts almost entirely failed to file Form 941 employment tax returns and failed to pay over to the IRS approximately $810,403 in employment taxes.

The tax fraud count carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for January 12, 2027.

U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer and Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald credited special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer Piovesan in Newark, with the investigation leading to today's guilty plea.

On April 7, 2026, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division ("Fraud Division"). The Fraud Division is investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department's work to combat fraud supports President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Bender of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Camden and Trial Attorney Hayter L. Whitman of the National Fraud Enforcement Division.

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Defense counsel: Nicholas Harbist, Esq., Princeton, New Jersey.