South Bay CEO pleads guilty to not paying $1.15 million in employment taxes

SAN JOSE – A South Bay executive pleaded guilty Wednesday to not paying more than $1 million in employment taxes to the IRS, according to federal prosecutors.

Santa Clara resident John Comeau served as the chief executive officer of Vivid Inc., a Campbell-based metal coating company, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

From at least the first quarter of 2010 through the end of 2019, the company withheld Social Security, Medicare and income taxes from the wages paid to its employees, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Comeau was responsible for ensuring those funds were reported and paid to the IRS but did not do so. Altogether, he caused a tax loss to the IRS of about $1.15 million.

Comeau will be sentenced on April 30. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, as well as a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.