A Jacksonville man pleaded guilty today to tax evasion, not paying employment taxes, bank fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft, announced U.S. Attorney Scott E. Bradford for the District of Oregon. Joel Matthew Caswell, 31, pleaded guilty to a Superseding Information charging three counts of tax evasion, three counts of willful failure to pay over employment taxes, one count of bank fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft. According to documents and statements made in court, Caswell has ownership and managing interests in multiple logging and construction businesses that collectively employed approximately 40 employees. He was the trustee and a beneficiary of the Caswell Family Trust. From 2018 through 2022, Caswell withheld but failed to pay over trust fund taxes for multiple businesses. In 2019, these unpaid payroll taxes resulted in the IRS assessing the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty. To evade the IRS’s ability to collect what was owed, Caswell directed customers to write checks to other companies or him personally, moved business funds, and lied to collection officers. Separately, between 2022 and 2024, Caswell executed multiple fraud schemes in Oregon that involved submitting fabricated financial records to a bank, a private lender, and the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) to secure loans. Additionally, Caswell used the name, Social Security number, and date of birth of Adult Victim 1 to obtain a residential mortgage.
