CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Federal charges have been made against a former NASCAR team owner, accusing him of misusing tax money taken from his employees' paychecks.
Ronald Devine, 67, was indicted on Tuesday in a federal court in North Carolina. Devine is facing four charges of failure to pay payroll taxes.
Devine owned the now-defunct BK Racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2012 to 2018. The team operated out of a shop in north Charlotte.
Court documents say Devine caused BK Racing to fail to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in payroll taxes collected from his employees' paychecks and instead allocated the money to other businesses and entities.
Payroll taxes are withheld from employees' gross pay and are distributed to fund Social Security and Medicare, according to the Department of Justice. Employers are required to make contributions to trust fund taxes matching the money withheld from their employees' pay.
Devine allegedly failed to pay over $390,000 in payroll taxes in 2017 alone, court records show. From 2012 to 2017, Devine allegedly transferred over $2 million to other businesses that he owned and used the money to pay for BK Racing expenses.
An arrest warrant was issued for Devine on Tuesday. He will have his first court appearance at the federal courthouse in Charlotte.
BK Racing fielded multiple rides during its short-lived tenure in NASCAR and held two charters in the Cup Series before it folded. Devine notably was a Burger King franchise owner who put the Burger King logo on many of the team's cars despite the company not providing sponsorship money to the team.
Some of BK Racing's most notable drivers were Alex Bowman, Corey LaJoie, J.J. Yeley, and Matt DiBenedetto.. Bowman ran his rookie season with BK Racing in 2014 and now drives the No. 48 for Hendrick Motorsports.
BK Racing was sold off in August 2018 after a series of bankruptcy proceedings as Devine and the team faced outstanding debt. Front Row Motorsports bought the team's charter and received most of its assets.