Rogersville business owner sentenced for tax evasion

A Rogersville business owner was sentenced in federal court Friday for evading $768,000 in state and federal taxes.

Michael Dismer, a 53-year-old who prosecutors say engaged in a $4 million fraud scheme through Worldwide Construction Inc., Lakeland Marine Builders LLC and other companies, was ordered to spend five years in federal prison without parole, according to a news release from the office of Teresa Moore, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri. The court additionally ordered Dismer to pay $4.3 million in restitution to fraud victims, $721,218 to the IRS and $46,943 to the Missouri Department of Revenue

“Not only did this defendant steal millions of dollars from his customers, but he stole from the public by evading taxes he owed on his lucrative business operations,” Moore said in the release. “Despite his many efforts to hide his income and property from the IRS, he has been held accountable for his criminal actions and will be forced to pay his fair share.”

Dismer pleaded guilty to tax evasion in April, after being indicted in 2019. Dismer admitted he did not file business or personal income tax returns from 2009 through 2017. To avoid paying taxes, he used 28 different bank accounts at six banks and transferred funds between the accounts.

Dismer operated at least eight businesses, including On Site Marine Inc. and Sea Dog Leasing LLC. According to the release, he engaged in a practice called "pyramiding," in which he would cease operating under business names that accumulated unpaid taxes and continue to earn income through newly created business entities.

Dismer admitted to defrauding 22 customers of his boat-building businesses from 2013 to 2018. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Dismer was required to sell a property in Stockton and liquidate his other assets to be used as proceeds for restitution.

Dismer also admitted he collected payroll taxes from his employees but failed to pay them to the government between 1996 and 2007, according to the release.