Mannatech salesman get 36 months

[Demosthenes]

Tuesday, March 25, 2008 - 6:53 PM CDT
Mannatech salesman sentenced for tax evasion
Dallas Business Journal
A Washington state man who sold health supplements for Mannatech Inc. has been sentenced to three years in prison for not paying the hundreds of thousands of dollars he owed in taxes.

Raymond J. Gebauer, 55, of Lake Sammamish, Wash., was sentenced for four counts of tax evasion, following his conviction in August 2007. He also was ordered to pay a fine of $48,251, as well as the costs of prosecution.

According to the U.S. attorney's office, Gebauer earned $3.5 million in 1998 to 2001 but never filed any tax returns. Prosecutors said Gebauer "attempted to use a web of trusts and corporations to hide his income from the government."

Gebauer claimed on his Web site that he made more than $20,000 per month selling health supplements for Coppell-based Mannatech (Nasdaq: MTEX). Mannatech makes nutritional and weight-loss supplements and topical and skin care products that are sold through 536,000 independent associates in the United States and abroad.

Mannatech representatives were not immediately available to comment.

Testimony at trial revealed that Gebauer spent extravagantly on luxuries, but had not filed a legitimate tax return since the early 1970s. The IRS said it spent years trying to get Gebauer to pay taxes, even meeting with him once, but he repeatedly claimed he would be on vacation when the IRS attempted to meet with him.