Linda Naylor
Julian Naylor
Delayne SprolesInvestigators are looking for the owners of a Dalton, Ga., staffing company who they say owe almost $400,000 in taxes. They've already arrested one of the owners' husbands for supposedly committing a loosely connected crime.
Warrants are out for the arrest of Linda Naylor, the owner of Temporary Resource Personnel, and Delayne Sproles, who co-owned the business until leaving in 2013. The Whitfield County Sheriff's Office arrested Naylor's husband, Julian Naylor, on Wednesday for allegedly threatening a family member.
Temporary Resource Personnel provide local companies with part-time workers. Those companies pay Temporary Resource Personnel's owners, who cut paychecks to the staffers.
The owners removed tax money from the pay, said Nick Gensei, Georgia Department of Revenue's communications director. But Naylor and Sproles are accused of pocketing that money instead of paying the state government.
From some point in 2009 to February 2015, according to the revenue department, the two women withheld $290,000. With penalties and interest, the sum has ballooned to $370,000.
Sproles and Naylor were at large as of Thursday afternoon. Sproles lives in Dalton, and Naylor (who also goes by Linda Maddox) lives in Naples, Fla. Neither woman could be reached for comment today.
The Whitfield County Sheriff's Office arrested Julian Naylor on Wednesday on allegations that he threatened his wife's sister. According to an incident report, Carla Annette Willingham told investigators that Julian Naylor "threatened to destroy her life if she testifies against her sister."
Julian Naylor was charged with influencing a witness. He was released from the Whitfield County Jail on Thursday after posting a $5,000 bond.
Gensei said the revenue department realized during an audit that the owners' tax payments were short. The department tried for more than a year to work with Linda Naylor and Sproles, offering to set up a plan to receive payments in increments.
"The business didn't comply," Gensei said. "They didn't want to pay the money back."
The company is still operating under a "conditional agreement" with the department of revenue. Members of the agency are training the company's four full-time employees to make sure they understand how much they have to pay in taxes.
The company employs 150 staffers. Even though the workers spent their time with other bosses, Gensei said, Naylor and Sproles knew they were supposed to give Georgia government the tax money.
"We haven't seen any evidence that there wasn't any kind of confusion," he said. "We are confident they were using the money to convert for their own personal use."
Contact staff writer Tyler Jettat tjett@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6476.