A federal grand jury in Portland, Oregon, last week returned an eight-count indictment against the head of cannabis company La Mota LLC, charging her with failing to pay more than $1.5 million in taxes. The grand jury found that Rosa Cazares, CEO of La Mota, failed to collect, truthfully account for, or pay over required trust fund taxes for eight consecutive quarters from March 2020 to December 2021.
In all, the total amount of trust fund taxes due is $1,542,413. Each quarter of nonpayment constitutes a separate criminal count under federal law.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Oregon, Cazares oversaw the financial affairs of both Lo Mota and 503 Staffing, a payroll processing company, and was responsible for withholding federal income taxes and Social Security and Medicare taxes from employee wages and remitting those funds to the Internal Revenue Service.
If convicted, Cazares faces up to five years in federal prison, plus fines and restitution.
Cazares was the subject of 2024 reporting by Willamette Week that found she and her partner Aaron Mitchell had expanded their cannabis businesses despite state and federal tax liens. The pair had also been sued by former business partners over unpaid bills and business deals gone awry. Willamette Week had also reported the couple signed a $10,000 contract with then-Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan for unspecified contracting work. The reporting led to Fagan’s resignation.
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