WARREN, Mich. — The owner of a medical marijuana dispensary faces several federal charges for allegedly hiding revenue totals from the IRS for years.
A federal grand jury filed an indictment against Ryan Richmond on the counts of tax evasion, attempting to obstruct the internal revenue laws, making a false statement, and willful failure to file his own individual income tax return.
Richman owned and operated Relief Choices, a medical marijuan dispensary in Warren. Federal prosecutors say starting in 2011 he started to use cash to pay for company expenses and routed customer credit card payments to a third-party bank account not affiliated with the dispensary. Investigators say those actions prevented the IRS from knowing how much money the dispensary was actually taking in through at least 2014.
Prosecutors say Richmond then lied about his control of the company and its profits in 2015 and 2016 during statements made to an IRS auditor.
If convicted Richmond could face up to 5 years in prison.
