ION Media Networks Tax Fraud Case Dismissed

A television network accused of tax fraud and retaliation against a whistleblower has had its lawsuit dismissed.

Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed Lavalette v. ION Media Network with prejudice and without admission of wrongdoing.

In the case, former chief financial officer Gordon Lavalette alleged that Florida-based ION Media Networks Inc., which has a reach of 101 million viewers, allegedly improperly withheld taxes from employees and supplanted employee income with extended corporate apartment stays. After raising awareness of the alleged fraud, Lavalette claimed, CEO R. Brandon Burgess ...