IRS Releases $3.1 Million in Liens Filed Against Troubled West Des Moines Payroll Outsourcer John Vratsinas

John Vratsinas, whose troubled payroll outsourcing companies accumulated a bevy of IRS tax liens, has been released from $3.1 million in obligations.

Vratsinas is the principal of Iowa Construction Logistics and its subsidiaries, InFocus Partners and ILC Staffing Inc. Last year, the IRS filed $3.8 million in tax liens, seeking to recover taxes Vratsinas’s companies allegedly collected on behalf of client businesses, but never paid.

The Des Moines Business Record’s Kent Darr reported that Iowa Secretary of State records show Iowa Construction Logistics paid $271,178 and ICL Staffing LLC paid nearly $2.9 million last month.

Last fall, dozens of the client businesses worried they’d be left holding the bag if Vratsinas was unable to satisfy the liens. One of them filed a theft report with West Des Moines Police, saying he was potentially out $850,000.

Owner Tobias “Toby” Torstenson told police Detective Tom Boyd that he was contacted by the IRS and informed his company has not paid federal taxes since 2009, Patch reported.  Torstenson paid the money to InFocus, who was supposed to forward it to the IRS but never did, the police report said.

Since last fall, Vratsinas’s companies have paid nearly $4.3 million in delinquent taxes, according to the Business Record report.

Catch up on the story on Patch: