Aimee Bock’s former live-in boyfriend, Empress Malcolm Watson, Jr., has been charged with two felony counts of state tax evasion, the state Dept. of Revenue announced today.
Aimee Bock, of course, was Defendant No. 1 in the Feeding Our Future scandal, named after the free-food nonprofit she co-founded and ran as CEO. Bock was convicted on all charges in. a federal court trial held earlier this year.
Her former boyfriend, Watson, featured prominently in the trial itself, even though he did not testify, nor was he charged in the fraud case.
Bock was convicted, among other crimes, of money laundering, and money paid to, spent by, or spent on Mr. Watson was described in great detail.
The couple formerly shared a home in Rosemount. Watson is now billed out of North St. Paul. Since separating from Bock, Watson has encountered his own, unrelated, legal problems.
Now come the tax cops,
[T]he Dakota County Attorney’s Office recently charged Empress Malcom Watson Jr., of North St. Paul, with two felony counts of filing false or fraudulent individual income tax returns, one count of failing to file individual income tax return, and three counts of failing to pay income tax.
To my knowledge, this marks the first instance where any figure associated with the Feeding Our Future scandal has been prosecuted at the state level, related to the fraud committed. I am also unaware of any other tax-related prosecutions at any level.
The Dept. of Revenue shares details,
The complaint states that in tax years 2020 through 2022, Mr. Watson earned over $1 million for work he did as an employee of his significant other’s business as well as work his own remodeling company did for that business. This money is considered taxable income in Minnesota. During that time, Mr. Watson allegedly spent over $680,000 on travel, jewelry, and vehicles or by making cash withdrawals or transfers to other financial accounts. The complaint states that for tax years 2020 and 2021, Mr. Watson significantly underreported his taxable income by hundreds of thousands of dollars and failed to file a return or pay any income tax in 2022. Mr. Watson allegedly owes over $64,000 in income tax.
The taxman cometh.