Texas businessman charged with evading taxes on $2 billion in income


Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged Houston software executive Robert Brockman with multiple counts of tax evasion, money laundering, and wire fraud for allegedly hiding $2 billion in income over 20 years. Officials say the case is the largest criminal tax evasion prosecution in U.S. history, The Wall Street Journal reports. Brockman, 79, is chief executive of automation software company Reynolds & Reynolds Co., but the charges stem from his investment in a private equity fund managed by Vista Equity Partners and its founder, billionaire Robert Smith.
Smith, 57, reached a plea deal with prosecutors, admitting to willfully evading $43 million in federal taxes, agreeing to pay $139 million in fines and back taxes, and cooperating with the investigation. In return, he won't be prosecuted. Brockman is the sole investor in Vista's first private equity fund. His investment helped Smith become the wealthiest Black man in the U.S. Smith announced last year that he would pay off all student loans for the 2019 graduates of Morehouse College.
The alleged tax evasion by Brockman and Smith was "brazen, intentional, and significant," said Jim Lee, chief of criminal investigations for the Internal Revenue Service. "These allegations should disgust every American taxpayer as well, because the law applies to all of us when it comes to tax and paying our fair share."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Brockman pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released on a $1 million bond. Reynolds & Reynolds noted in a statement that Brockman's alleged crimes were comitted "outside of his professional responsibilities with Reynolds & Reynolds."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
The Assassin: action-packed caper is 'terrific fun'
The Week Recommends Keeley Hawes stars as a former hitwoman drawn out of retirement for 'one last job'
-
The EPA wants to green-light approval for a twice-banned herbicide
Under the radar Dicamba has been found to harm ecosystems
-
Crossword: July 30, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutiny
Speed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress code
speed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirement
speed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement