CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WJZY) — Federal charges have been filed against a former NASCAR team owner, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

A Charlotte, North Carolina, grand jury returned a bill of indictment, charging Ronald Devine, 67, of Burke, Virginia, with four counts of failure to pay payroll taxes.

According to allegations listed in the indictment, Devine was the owner and president of BK Racing, LLC, which operated a NASCAR racing team and owned two NASCAR charters.

As BK Racing’s owner, authorities said Devine exercised control over its financial affairs, including having sole signature authority and control over bank accounts and authorizing the filing and payment of BK Racing’s trust fund taxes, which are commonly referred to as “payroll taxes.”

Payroll taxes are withheld from employees’ gross pay and are used by the government to fund Social Security and Medicare, and also include the income taxes withheld from the employees’ paychecks. Employers are also required to make contributions to trust fund taxes matching the amounts withheld from their employees’ pay, and to file quarterly an Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return, Form 941, indicating payment of the relevant taxes.

United States Attorney’s Office

The indictment states that starting in 2012, Devine caused BK Racing to fail to account for and pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in payroll taxes.

The indictment further alleges that between 2012 and 2017, instead of using the funds held in trust to pay for payroll taxes, Devine reportedly transferred more than $2 million to other businesses and entities that he owned and controlled and used some of the funds to pay for BK Racing’s expenses such as rent, utilities, and vendor bills.

Devine will have his initial appearance in federal court in Charlotte.

The charge of failure to truthfully account for and pay over trust fund taxes carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the four counts in the indictment.