A billionaire software developer battling the largest individual tax evasion case in US history died Friday at his Houston home, according to reports.
Robert Brockman, 81, a self-taught software entrepreneur who developed a system that helped auto dealerships virtually run their operations, has been fighting IRS money laundering and tax evasion allegations worth more than $2 billion since 2020.
Prosecutors said Brockman, who had a personal net worth of $4.7 billion, owned an $8 million mansion in Houston, a Colorado ski lodge, a Bormbardier jet and a 209-foot yacht dubbed “Turmoil.”
Brockman suffered from dementia and his lawyers had repeatedly argued that he had no jurisdiction to stand trial, but a judge ruled in May that the trial would go ahead. At a June hearing, the judge set the trial date for February 2023, with Brockman appearing at the hearing via video link from his bed.
Born in Florida, where his father ran a gas station and his mother worked as a physical therapist, Brockman registered dozens of patents and founded Reynolds & Reynolds, a software company with more than 5,000 employees and worth more than $5 billion, according to Bloomberg.
In October 2020, federal prosecutors charged Brockman with using offshore companies, code names and burner phones to hide more than $2 billion in revenue from the IRS, most of it earned through Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm he helped launch. .
.
.jpg?itok=8LTmGoCk "Stop The Count: Waiguru Condemns Broad Daylight Rigging")
