Father and Son Contractors Admit Tax Evasion, Payroll Tax Fraud, and Fraudulently Obtaining a Loan Meant to Help Small Businesses During COVID-19 Pandemic and Related Offenses

CAMDEN, N.J. - An Elmer, New Jersey, businessman yesterday admitted to income tax evasion, failing to pay payroll taxes to the IRS, and fraudulently obtaining a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced.

Zackary Sulpizi, 30, of Sewell, New Jersey, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Karen M. Williams in Camden federal court to an information charging him with income tax evasion, failing to collect, account for, and pay over payroll taxes, and bank fraud resulting from his fraudulent loan.

Previously, on April 1, 2026, Sulpizi's father, William Brent Stephens, 58, appeared before Judge Williams and pleaded guilty to income tax evasion, failing to collect, account for and pay over payroll taxes, bankruptcy fraud, and providing false statements to the IRS.

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

Sulpizi was part owner of BZS Contracting Incorporated, which was doing business as Stephens Contracting Inc. in Elmer, New Jersey. Stephens Contracting provided landscaping and construction services. At times, Sulpizi helped his father run Stephens Contracting. Sulpizi also formed several other businesses, which were used to operate Stephens Contracting.

Sulpizi admitted that he opened business and personal bank accounts at several financial institutions and used those bank accounts to withdraw cash to pay biweekly cash payroll. Sulpizi deposited customer checks into his personal bank accounts and cashed business checks against those accounts to pay payroll.

Sulpizi admitted that for tax years 2019 through 2022, he paid his employees approximately $446,573 in cash wages and that he willfully failed to file payroll tax returns and failed to pay over $34,162 in employment taxes on behalf of his employees.

Sulpizi further admitted that for the years 2019 through 2022, when he filed his income tax returns with the IRS, he failed to report approximately $389,650 that he had received in income from his business. He also failed to report personal expenses paid by his business, as well as other income that he had received. As a result, Sulpizi failed to pay approximately $74,920 in taxes during this time period.

In addition to Sulpizi defrauding the IRS, Sulpizi also submitted a fraudulent application to a lender to obtain a PPP loan, resulting in bank fraud.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act is a federal law enacted in March 2020 and was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of hundreds of billions of dollars in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses, through the Paycheck Protection Program. The CARES Act also authorized the Small Business Administration to provide Economic Injury Disaster Loans of up to $2 million to eligible small businesses that were experiencing substantial financial disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To obtain a PPP loan, a qualifying small business was required to submit an application and provide information about its operations, including the number of employees and expenses. In addition, businesses generally had to provide supporting documentation for their application.

In May 2021, Sulpizi submitted an application to obtain a PPP loan. In the application, he falsely represented to the lender that he had employees and payroll expenses. In further support of his application, Sulpizi submitted various IRS Forms to establish that he was paying compensation to his employees and various schedules showing gross receipts and profits. Those forms contained false information, and they were never actually submitted to the IRS, as Sulpizi had claimed; instead, the forms were only created and used for the purpose of securing the loan.

Based on Sulpizi's misrepresentations, the lender approved the PPP loan and disbursed approximately $16,935 in federal COVID-19 emergency relief funds meant for distressed small businesses to Sulpizi.

The charges of income tax evasion and failing to collect, account for and pay over payroll taxes each carry a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. The charge of bank fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million. As part of his guilty plea, Sulpizi agreed to make restitution to the IRS in the full amount of the taxes that he owes, and he also agreed to make restitution to the lender in the full amount of the PPP loan. Sulpizi's sentencing is scheduled for October 19, 2026.

Sulpizi's guilty plea came less than two months after his father, Stephens, admitted to committing tax and fraud crimes in connection with Stephens Contracting.

During his April 1, 2026 plea hearing, Stephens admitted that during 2019 through 2023, he owned Stephens Contracting LLC. At times his son, Sulpizi helped him run Stephens Contracting. Stephens also admitted to having an ownership interest in two massage parlors in New Jersey.

Stephens admitted that for years 2019 through 2022, he failed to report approximately $1,165,268 of income that he earned from his various businesses on his Income Tax Returns. Based on that income, Stephens admitted that he owes $288,297 in taxes to the IRS.

Stephens also admitted to running a cash payroll for his employees and failing to pay payroll taxes to the IRS. Between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2022, Stephens' companies hired and paid employees to work on various landscaping and construction projects. Stephens paid his employees approximately $718,237 in wages. During this time, Stephens failed to collect and pay over to the IRS approximately $54,946 in employment taxes.

Stephens further admitted that, as part of his bankruptcy proceedings filed in the District of New Jersey, he deliberately concealed his assets, including the amount of income that he received from operating his contracting businesses, his income from the massage parlors, his unemployment insurance payments, and the sale of Stephens Contracting vehicles. He further admitted to lying to the IRS Special Agents when they interviewed him in January 2023 during their investigation into his business's failure to pay over payroll taxes and his failure to pay income taxes.

The charges of income tax evasion and failing to collect, account for and pay over payroll taxes, bankruptcy fraud, and false statements, each carry a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. As part of his guilty plea, Stephens agreed to make restitution to the IRS in the full amount of the taxes that he owes. Stephens' sentencing is scheduled for August 4, 2026.

U.S. Attorney Frazer credited special agents of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Jenifer L. Piovesan, Special Agent-in-Charge, New Jersey Field Office, with the investigation leading to yesterday's guilty plea.

On April 7, 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 Jason M. Richardson of the U.S. Attorney's Office Criminal Division in Camden.

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Defense counsel: Christopher St. John, Esq., Marlton, N.J. for Zachary Sulpizi

Martin Isenberg, Esq., Gibbsboro, for William Brent Stephens