A Dallas business owner was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for failing to pay federal taxes she withheld from employees.
Senior U.S. Judge David Godbey sentenced 57-year-old Heaven Marie Diaz to 97 months in prison, according to a Department of Justice press release. He also ordered her to pay nearly $800,000 in restitution.
“The defendant lied to her employees and embezzled employment taxes due to greed,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould in the release. “We will continue to fully pursue these offenses to protect the federal fisc and ensure that tax dollars are being spent as intended instead of to fund a defendant’s lavish lifestyle.”
Diaz was the owner and CEO of Pursuit of Excellence, a Dallas-based staffing company. The company had an office in north Dallas, off the North Central Expressway, according to state documents.
Diaz withheld payroll taxes from employees from 2015 to 2017 but failed to remit more than $3 million to the IRS as required by law, according to the release.
“Former employees and Diaz’s former accountant testified that they repeatedly warned her about her obligation to pay employment taxes,” the release reads. “Despite those warnings, Diaz continued to withhold the taxes and kept the funds in her company’s bank accounts.”
During the trial, evidence showed that Diaz used the funds for personal expenses, including international travel, luxury goods, and a $10,000 monthly rent on a home in Preston Hollow.
“Heaven Diaz stole from her employees and the American taxpayer to fund a lifestyle she didn’t earn,” said Christopher Altemus Jr., special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation-Dallas, in the release. “She ignored repeated warnings, misused her position, and treated trust fund taxes like a personal bank account.”
Officials indicted Diaz in 2023, and a jury convicted her in June 2025 for five counts of “failing to pay over trust fund taxes.”
IRS Criminal Investigation performed the investigation, while the Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan Niedermair and Joshua Detzky prosecuted the case.
“The women and men of IRS-CI will continue working to uphold trust in the tax system and support those who do the right thing,” Altemus said.
Raybould vowed to continue tracking down those who take advantage of the financial system.
“We will continue to fully pursue these offenses to protect the federal fisc and ensure that tax dollars are being spent as intended instead of to fund a defendant’s lavish lifestyle,” he said.
A Fort Worth jury convicted a man in late November for investment fraud after he gathered money for his cryptocurrency business, Geosyn Mining, but never followed through, as The Dallas Express reported. That month, a federal judge sentenced an Oklahoma man to five years in federal prison for another cryptocurrency scam.
