A former Tyler businessman and NASCAR team owner was convicted of federal tax violations by a Miami federal jury.

Timothy “Tim” Beverley, 61, was convicted of filing fraudulent tax returns, wire fraud and filing false monthly reports with the U.S. Probation Office by a Miami-based federal jury.

He was on supervised release at the time, after a stint in federal prison for a Tyler-based money laundering scheme.

According to the Florida court, Beverley worked as an airplane broker at Majestic Jet Inc., a company in Pompano Beach, Florida that provided aircraft charters. 

From 2010 through 2013, Beverley stole more than $1.5 million from Majestic Jet by directing airplane agents to wire funds from the sale of planes to bank accounts that Beverley controlled, according to the agency.

Beverley also stole funds directly from Majestic’s business bank accounts and used the money to pay for personal expenses including his boat and rent.

He did not report this income on his 2010 through 2013 personal tax returns.

While working for Majestic Jet, Beverley was on supervised release stemming from a separate 2004 federal conviction for money laundering. That charged related to his business dealings with Tyler Jet, a company that refurbished and sold aircraft.

As a condition of his supervised release, Beverley was required to file monthly reports with the U.S. Probation Office that listed his net earnings from employment. 

Between November 2009 through October 2012, Beverley did not disclose the money he stole from Majestic Jet on his filed reports.

His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2018, before a Florida federal judge. Beverley faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the wire fraud counts, three years in prison for each count of filing fraudulent returns and five years in prison for making false statements, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

TYLER JET/NASCAR

In 2004, Beverley, who was then Tyler Jet president and chief executive officer, was sentenced to six years in prison, and the company’s Chief Financial Officer Gregory A. Hopper was sentenced to three and one-half years in prison for their part in a money laundering scheme that cost businesses and banks $18 million. They were each ordered to pay $18.2 million in restitution.

The men pleaded guilty on Jan. 21, 2004, to one charge of a 34-count indictment, which charged them with wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.

Beverley started Tyler Jet L.L.C. in 1986, and ran a legitimate business until he made a “tragic” mistake in 1997 – he bought a NASCAR team, he told U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis at the trial.

Until 1999 his business practices were “ethical.” Then his NASCAR investment bombed and he made a poor judgment, Beverley said at that trial.

Beverley admitted that he had a lot of problems then that clouded his judgment. He apologized to the court for his “inexcusable actions” and for the embarrassment he caused himself and his family.

The co-defendants defrauded aircraft transactions by providing repair estimates to companies and banks for the refurbishment of an aircraft. They secured a loan of $300,000 for the repair from an Indiana bank Aug. 28, 2001, and diverted $280,000 of the loan for business activities and personal use. The aircraft was never repaired.

The one count they pleaded guilty to, count 24 of the 34-count indictment, charges them with engaging in monetary transactions by financial institutions affecting interstate and foreign commerce and derived from unlawful activity.

Victims lived in Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Texas and Indiana, and included employees of Beverley and Tyler Jet, which was forced into bankruptcy in 2002.

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