Nexus Services Inc. owes Augusta County tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes
VERONA — Nexus Services Inc., with its owners under indictment, owes Augusta County over $100,000 in delinquent taxes, according to the county's website.
But when the county will collect the money is anyone's guess.
Augusta County records list Nexus Services Inc., with its corporate offices located in Verona, as owing $87,402 in delinquent personal property taxes. Two of its subsidiaries are also listed — Nexus Commercial Ventures owes $20,656, and Nexus Properties Inc. owes another $15,713 in delinquent real estate taxes, according to the county.
All told, $123,771 is owed to Augusta County in unpaid taxes by Nexus.
Augusta County Treasurer Richard Homes said Monday that multiple attempts have been made to collect the money owed to the county, and that "numerous" payment plans have not been adhered to by Nexus. The county said information concerning how long the taxes have been owed is not available to the public.
"We make every effort to collect taxes on a daily basis, and legally speaking, we are not an attorney’s office but we are required and adhere to state and county codes as they relate to delinquent collections," Homes said in an email.
Moore also owes more than $6,000 in real estate taxes, and Donovan owes more than $7,000 in unpaid personal property and real estate taxes, according to the county's website.
The owners of Nexus and a company officer have come under scrutiny in the last week after allegations surfaced that Nexus CEO Mike Donovan, his business partner and domestic partner, Richard Moore, and Timothy Shipe, a vice president at the company, reportedly stole $426,000 from Zachary Cruz, the brother of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter who killed 17 people in Florida in 2018.
Donovan and Moore were recently indicted by the Augusta County grand jury on charges of obtaining money by false pretenses, conspiracy to commit a felony, and two charges each of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult. Shipe is indicted on charges of obtaining money by false pretenses and conspiracy to commit a felony. All three suspects are free on bond.
Moore is already facing 10 federal counts of employment tax fraud after being accused in December by government authorities of not paying the IRS more than $1.5 million in payroll taxes that were allegedly withheld from the paychecks of employees at Nexus during a six-year period.
Moore was also recently charged with perjury on Sept. 12 in Louisa County, court records show. He will be arraigned on the charge Oct. 24. Moore has a pending perjury charge in Augusta County as well after being accused of lying to a magistrate while under oath in 2019.
Nexus Services Inc., a multi-million dollar corporation, helps post bond through third-party licensed bondsmen with federally-approved insurance companies for people being held in immigration detention centers while they await court cases.
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 Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Nexus owes Augusta County tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes
