John Darmento, director of the Gillrie Institute, a Florida-based dealership technology consultant, said last week that some Reynolds competitors already have made it known that they thought Brockman’s troubles were something on which they could potentially capitalize.
The allegations against Brockman raise questions about the company’s succession planning and its leadership structure should Brockman ultimately leave Reynolds, Darmento said.
“Brockman has been the only person really in charge at Reynolds forever,” he said. “Even though other people have been in charge in name, anytime you wanted to get something done, it had to go past Brockman.”
Suspicions about Brockman being investigated by the government have been stirring for months.
An Australian lawyer this year, in a civil case in Bermuda involving Brockman’s trusts, cited that Brockman was the subject of a U.S. criminal investigation into tax evasion and money laundering.
And those are just some of the charges eventually filed. Brockman faces seven counts of tax evasion, six counts of failing to file foreign banking reports, 20 counts of wire fraud and counts for conspiracy, concealment money laundering, tax evasion money laundering, international concealment money laundering, evidence tampering and evidence destruction, Anderson said.
Brockman is next scheduled to appear in court Oct. 29 for a bail review hearing and Nov. 17 for a status hearing, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in an email to Automotive News.
Jim Lee, chief of the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal division, said the allegations against Brockman and those laid out in Smith’s nonprosecution agreement “should disgust every American taxpayer.”
Said Lee: “Mr. Brockman seemingly spent as much time covering up his tracks as he did earning the money in the first place, a clear indication to me that he knew exactly what he was doing.”
David Muller and Bloomberg contributed to this report.
