Federal judge orders former Nexus executive to stand trial, with or without attorney

HARRISONBURG — After going through eight defense attorneys for various reasons since being charged in a 2021 federal tax case, former Nexus Services executive Richard Moore will be tried in December on tax fraud charges — with or without legal representation — after a judge ruled his trial later this year will not be delayed again.

"Moore is reminded that the trial is set to begin on December 2, 2024, and he should be ready to represent himself at that time," United States District Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon said in an opinion released last week. "Additionally, if he obtains counsel before trial and that attorney enters an appearance, the attorney should be prepared to go forward on that date."

In 2021, Moore was charged with 10 counts of employment tax fraud. Federal authorities accuse him of not paying the IRS more than $1.5 million during a six-year period while he was at Nexus. For various tax periods between the first quarter of 2015 and fourth quarter of 2020, the Justice Department said Moore failed to pay IRS payroll taxes withheld from the paychecks of employees at Nexus, which used to be located in Verona before its campus was sold off at a public auction last year for $3.4 million after the property went into foreclosure.

Last year, Moore, who is currently being held at Middle River Regional Jail in Verona in an unrelated case, was arraigned on two additional charges of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return. It's alleged he filed a joint tax return in 2020 with his husband, Mike Donovan, also the former majority owner and ex-CEO of Nexus, in which they claimed to have paid $291,144 in federal taxes, which the government said is false. In 2021, Moore is alleged to have been involved in a second tax return that stated the couple paid $88,846 in taxes, which the government also alleges did not happen. Donovan is not charged in the federal case.

In all, the 12 federal charges against Moore carry a maximum of 56 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty.

Late last year, Moore's initial federal trial on the tax allegations was postponed after his attorney withdrew from the case. In the meantime, Moore continually indicated to the court that he was in the process of obtaining his ninth attorney in the case. However, he hasn't done so.

"The United States asserts that Moore’s actions have had the effect — and possibly were done with the intent — of delaying trial," Dillon said.

The judge said Moore can go it alone without an attorney at his federal tax trial if he chooses to do so, but said she would also appoint standby counsel. On Thursday, the judge tabbed Gregory W. Bowman as Moore's standby counsel, court records show.

Moore is in the midst of serving a nine-month jail sentence on a perjury conviction after he was caught lying to an Augusta County magistrate. Both Moore and Donovan have past felony convictions.

The couple, along with former Nexus executive Timothy Shipe, is also facing state charges in Augusta County, where they are accused of stealing $426,000 from the brother of convicted Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz. The trio had been scheduled to go on trial this month, but the case was pushed back to early December. The Augusta County trial is set for the same time as Moore's federal tax trial, so it appears the county case will get postponed again.

In April, Dillon hammered Moore, Donovan, and former Nexus vice president Evan Ajin, who owned 10% of the company. The judge ordered the trio, Nexus Services Inc., and a subsidiary, Libre by Nexus, to fork over $811 million in a massive civil lawsuit. Filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — along with the states of Virginia, Massachusetts and New York — the lawsuit said the defendants violated various state consumer protection laws and the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010.

Dillon ordered the five defendants to pay nearly $231 million in restitution to the CFPB, which matches what Nexus collected from consumers between December 2013 and June 2022. The judge also ordered that Nexus, Libre by Nexus, Donovan, Moore and Ajin each pay more than $111 million in civil penalties to the CFPB, as well as additional civil penalties of $7.1 million to the Commonwealth of Virginia, $3.4 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and $13.89 million to New York.

Nexus once helped post bond through third-party licensed bondsmen with federally-approved insurance companies for people who were held in immigration detention centers while they awaited court cases. "Neither Nexus nor Libre is a licensed bail-bond agent or a surety company certified by the U.S. Treasury," Dillon said in April.

In May, a judge ordered Nexus into receivership in another federal case, meaning it will finally have to open its books and records after years of legal wrangling.

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Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on X (formerly Twitter).

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Federal judge orders former Nexus executive must stand trial