MINNEAPOLIS — Hennepin County's former Chief Public Defender finds himself on the wrong side of the law after being indicted by a federal grand jury for tax evasion.
Court documents lay out 17 criminal counts filed against Kassius Orlando Benson, all involving his alleged failure to forward taxes withheld from employees of his law firm to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The indictment states that during the third and fourth quarters of 2016, and all of 2017, 2018 and 2019, Benson deducted federal income, Social Security and Medicare taxes from all employee paychecks but failed to deposit that money with the IRS.
Prosecutors say that as sole shareholder and owner of Kassius Benson Law (KBL) had the responsibility to collect, truthfully account for and pay overall employment taxes to the IRS.
Court filings put the amount not paid at nearly $125,000.
Criminal counts one through 14 are for failing to account for and pay over employment taxes, while counts 15 through 17 are for allegedly aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent tax returns, statements or other documents.
Benson resigned as Hennepin County Chief Public Defender in October of 2022. In a letter to State Defender Bill Ward, Benson said his resignation is "due to personal issues involving matters outside of my position," adding that he'd be a distraction should he remain in the position.
While no charges had been filed at the time of Benson's resignation, a search warrant unsealed two months earlier revealed that the IRS was investigating him for unpaid taxes.
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