Billionaire in U.S. Criminal Tax Case Was on Feeding Tube, Court Told

(Bloomberg) -- Robert Brockman, a software billionaire facing a record U.S. tax-fraud indictment, has been released from a Houston-area hospital where he spent two weeks as his health deteriorates, his lawyers said in a court filing late Monday.

Brockman, 80, entered Houston Methodist Hospital on April 18 and was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection, pneumonia and sepsis, according to the filing. His lawyers have argued for months that the billionaire suffers from dementia and isn't competent to stand trial on criminal charges.

“He was unable to swallow, and had a feeding tube in his stomach,” his lawyers wrote in the new filing. “While it is too soon to determine the cognitive impact that these medical events may have, sepsis in particular can trigger delirium and accelerate cognitive decline.”

U.S. District Judge George Hanks, who conducted a competency hearing in November, has yet to determine if Brockman has the ability to help his lawyer defend him against charges that he evaded taxes on $2 billion in income.

An attorney for Brockman declined to comment.

On April 13, Brockman's lawyers filed a motion saying his dementia “has progressed at an accelerated rate.” Prosecutors then urged the judge in Houston to disregard the filing as “a naked attempt to interject unadmitted, unverified, and unsworn evidence into the record.”

The founder of Reynolds & Reynolds, a leading maker of software for auto dealerships, Brockman was indicted in October 2020 on what prosecutors said was the largest tax-fraud case ever against an individual. It accuses Brockman of using an offshore trust structure to hide $2 billion in income, most of which he received as the original investor in Robert F. Smith's private equity firm Vista Equity Partners.

Hanks has given no indication when he may rule on Brockman's fitness for trial. Brockman, looking frail, spent several days attending his competency hearing, but didn't testify. Prosecutors said he had faked or exaggerated his condition for years.

The Internal Revenue Service has separately filed a civil suit against Brockman to collect $1.4 billion in taxes, penalties and interest it says he owes. Hanks hasn't ruled on Brockman's attempts to halt the agency's immediate ability to seize his assets.

If Brockman dies, the criminal case would end but the IRS would continue to pursue its civil claims against his estate.