Ex-SC schools employee, guilty of scamming taxpayers, faces new tax crimes, officials say
A former employee of a Midlands school district who previously pleaded guilty to scamming his bosses and South Carolina taxpayers out of more than half a million dollars, was arrested again Monday on tax evasion charges.
David Cortez Marshall Jr. is facing three counts of tax evasion for failing to report $1.1 million in sales from his technology company, the South Carolina Department of Revenue said in a news release.
The 31-year-old Orangeburg resident operated Level 8 Communications LLC from 2019-2021, according to the release.
During that time, Marshall didn’t report sales but did collect $74,416 in sales tax through misrepresentation and use of shell companies, the Department of Revenue said. He is accused of not remitting the taxes and using several bank accounts to conceal his activities, according to the release.
Marshall was taken to the Orangeburg County Detention Center Monday and was issued personal recognizance bonds for a combined $30,000 on the charges, court records show. He’s scheduled to appear in court again on the tax evasion charges Aug. 8, according to judicial records.
If convicted, Marshall faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each charge, according to South Carolina law. Marshall would also be responsible for the cost of prosecution, according to the release.
Pleading guilty in the past
Marshall, a former media communication specialist with the Orangeburg County school district, pleaded guilty in January to federal charges of defrauding the district of more than $550,000 using shell companies, fabricated documents, forged signatures and a false identity, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Marshall exploited the COVID-19 pandemic and created a scheme to defraud the district while purchasing remote learning cameras for school classrooms, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Through the use of shell companies, fabricated documents, forged signatures and a false identity, Marshall steered the district’s purchasing contracts to companies he created and controlled, purchased the cameras, then sold them to the school at a substantial markup, according to the release.
Level 8 Communications was one of the shell companies Marshall created, along with Flex Technologies LLC and Orangeburg County Purchasing LLC, according the the federal charge.
Marshall also received funds from the school district for the cameras that he never paid to the seller, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
His scheme was eventually discovered by other school district employees, who confronted Marshall and reported him to the FBI, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Marshall has not been sentenced on the federal charges.
He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for wire fraud and three years of post-prison supervision, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. There is no parole in the federal system.
In addition to paying restitution, Marshall also could be fined as much as $250,000, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
If you suspect or know of anyone or a business that has committed a state tax crime, such as tax evasion or tax fraud, the Department of Revenue asks you to contact its criminal investigators at criminalinvestigation@dor.sc.gov.
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