Tax Troubles: A USC Official’s Surprising Story

Imagine this: a high-ranking university official, who's supposed to promote well-being, is accused of not paying over a million dollars in taxes. This isn't a movie plot, but a real situation involving Mari Ross-Alexander, the former Associate Vice President for Student Health and Well-Being at the University of South Carolina. Let's rewind a bit. Mari started her role at USC in July 2023, overseeing counseling and substance abuse services. But before that, she ran a mental health counseling center in Tennessee called Ross Behavioral Group. That's where the tax trouble began. According to federal investigators, Mari withheld taxes from her employees' wages but didn't fully pay them to the IRS. This went on for years, from at least 2015 to 2021. Each year, she gave her employees forms that claimed their withheld funds were going to the IRS. But that wasn't the case.

The total unpaid taxes? Over a million dollars. The IRS started contacting Mari about this in 2018, but she didn't pay up. Even when her company got a COVID-19 relief loan of over $130, 000 in 2020, she didn't use it to pay the taxes. Mari's last day at USC is set for October 23, 2023. She's facing 11 counts of willfully failing to account for and pay over employment tax. Each count could land her a five-year sentence and a fine of up to $250, 000 or twice the amount gained or lost from the offense. It's a surprising turn of events, isn't it? It raises questions about trust and accountability in high positions.

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