The United States government is suing former NFL linebacker Bill Romanowksi and his wife for allegedly using money from their nutrition company to pay for personal expenses, per a report from USA Today. In its lawsuit, the Department of Justice (DOJ) asserts the Romanowskis owe roughly $15.3 million in back taxes.
The DOJ lawsuit alleges that the Romanowskis have avoided paying millions in federal income taxes from 1998 to 2007. The Romanowskis founded Nurtition53 in 2006, and the DOJ accuses them of using money from the company's bank accounts in the hopes of avoiding those federal income taxes.
The Romanowskis used money from Nutrition53 to pay for everything from pet food to their daughter's rent, according to the suit.
"By using N53 to pay their personal living expenses and those of their adult children, the Romanowskis have improperly used N53 to thwart the IRS's collection of the individual income tax assessments at issue in this case," the DOJ said in its lawsuit.
Romanowski was a third-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers in the 1988 NFL Draft. He spent six years with the 49ers and won back-to-back Super Bowls in 1988 and 1989. Romanowski then played two seasons for the Eagles before joining the Denver Broncos, where he won two more Super Bowl rings in 1997 and 1998.
Romanowski played the last two seasons of his career with the Oakland Raiders in 2002 and 2003, and he finished his career with 1,118 tackles, 39.5 sacks and 18 interceptions.
