Franklin company accused of misappropriation

Posted: Wednesday, July 7, 2010 8:01 pm
By: AP

NASHVILLE (AP) — A Williamson County company connected to the Nashville Predators is accused of misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars meant to go to taxes, health care and 401k plans, according to an unsealed affidavit.
The Tennessean reported that the FBI, working with the U.S. Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service, executed a search warrant at the Sommet Group on Tuesday morning.
The Sommet Group, a company that contracts with other businesses to handle payroll and human resource functions, is accused in the affidavit of using profits from future clients to pay off old claims.
Company officials couldn’t be immediately reached by The Associated Press for comment on Tuesday because a phone number for the Sommet Group remained busy for hours.
According to records, the company’s system began to falter in 2009, leading to a backlog in unpaid medical claims that have surpassed $2 million. The problems mounted with unpaid payroll taxes, unpaid 401k distributions and even a case where child support that was supposed to be garnisheed from a paycheck was never paid, records show.
The Sommet Group had sole naming rights to what is now Bridgestone Arena from 2006 until 2009. In November 2009, the Predators sued the company for nonpayment on the naming arrangement.
The company also has other problems. The Tennessee Department of Labor targeted it last week for nonpayment of $17,622 in unemployment taxes.
Department spokesman Jeff Hentschel said the company failed to pay any taxes on the first quarter of this year.
Hentschel said the FBI raid was unrelated to the state lien.
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Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com
Published in The Messenger 7.7.10