Kenneth Elser, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that James R. Cheek, age 67, formerly of Douglasville, Georgia, and Herschel J. Breig, Sr., age 68, formerly of Nixa, Missouri, appeared today before United States Magistrate Judge Barry A. Bryant for arraignment on nine counts of Failure to Pay Over Employment Tax in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7202. The Indictment alleges that as principals of Hope Medical Park Hospital, both Cheek and Breig were responsible to collect, truthfully account for, and pay over the hospital’s payroll taxes to the Internal Revenue Service throughout the calendar years 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012, failed to pay approximately $6,000,000 in payroll taxes as was required.
The charges in an indictment are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless or until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
This case is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigative Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan D. Ross is prosecuting the case for the United States.
