Robert Gessert v. United States

FLAUM, Circuit Judge.

The Gessert Group (“the Group”), a pharmaceutical consulting group, obstinately refused to pay its taxes. By 2005, it accumulated over $1 million in unpaid liabilities. Revenue Officer Lillie Johnson pursued collection efforts on behalf of the United States. She levied two of the Group’s accounts and also sought to recover the taxes withheld from the Group’s employees — so-called trust fund taxes— from Robert Gessert personally. Gessert was the Group’s creator, sole shareholder, and CEO, and presumably behind the Group’s refusal to pay. The Group and Gessert filed suit…