Billionaire’s tax fraud case will be moved here
Billionaire Robert T. Brockman will have his trial on fraud charges in his hometown of Houston rather than San Francisco after a federal judge granted a change of venue in the $2 billion case. The move comes after Brockman’s lawyers claimed the software magnate has a form of dementia.
Brockman, 79, was charged in October in a 39-count indictment of using a group of Caribbean entities to conceal $2 billion in income. He is the founder and former chief executive of Reynolds & Reynolds Co., which makes software used by automobile dealerships. Brockman started the business out of his living room in Houston in 1970.
In a rulingMonday, U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco granted the change of venue requested by Brockman’s attorneys, who cited his declining health andDepartment of Justice guidelines that require such trials occur “in the judicial district of the taxpayer’s resident or principal place of business …”
Brockman, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, suffers from “Parkinson’s disease, Parkinsonism, Lewy body dementia, or ‘some combination’ of all three,” according to the filing. Lewy body dementia is a common form of the cognitive illness in which protein deposits in nerve cells cause physical and mental impairment.
In the change of venue filing, defense attorneys said Brockman’s physician believes conducting the trial in a location other than his hometownwould “disorient Brockman ‘in a manner that could accelerate the deterioration of his mental condition.’” They said Brockman also suffers from short- and
long-term memory loss.
Prosecutors were offered the chance to interview Brockman’s attorneys but declined, according to the filing, and are still awaiting medical records the defense has not provided. Brockman’s attorneys have requested a competency hearing to determinewhether he can participate in his own defense.
Brockman is accused of masterminding the single biggest tax evasion scheme in U.S. history, officially charged with wire fraud, tax evasion and failure to disclose foreign bank accounts. The case involves hiding profits in funds overseen by Vista Equity Partners of Austin. The founder of that firm, billionaire Robert Smith, admitted to evading $43 million in taxes and is helping the government in the case against Brockman.
Brockman stepped down
as Ohio-based Reynolds & Reynolds’CEOinNovember. The company’s software is used by auto dealerships to manage the financing process and organize inventory. One of its most-visible products is docuPAD, which turns an auto financing officer’s desk into a giant touchscreen, simplifying the process of signing vehicle purchasing documents.