Robert T Brockman

Robert Brockman, the former CEO of dealership management system giant Reynolds and Reynolds Co. who built a multibillion-dollar fortune as a software entrepreneur before he was indicted in a landmark tax-evasion case, has died. He was 81. On Thursday October 15 2020, prosecutors alleged that his decades-long tax fraud scheme, the largest in American history, had finally caught up to him. A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Brockman, 79, on 39 charges, including tax fraud, wire fraud, evidence tampering and money laundering, authorities said. He allegedly used a network of entities in Bermuda and Nevis to hide investment income from the IRS. He also allegedly had secret bank accounts in Bermuda and Switzerland, where he funneled untaxed profits from selling assets. Brockman was the only investor in witness and alleged co-conspirator Robert F. Smith's Vista Equity Partners, a San Francisco-based private-equity fund. According to prosecutors, Smith helped Brockman hide his profits earned through Vista in offshore accounts so he could avoid paying taxes. Mr. Robert T.Brockman is Chairman and CEO of Reynolds and Reynolds. He is also Chairman/CEO and Founder of Universal Computer Systems, Inc. and affiliated companies. From 1966 to 1970 Mr. Brockman was in sales at IBM Corporation in Houston and Washington, D.C. He was named #1 Salesman in the U.S. in 1969 for the IBM Service Bureau, and was in the top 1 percent of all IBM salesmen worldwide. Prior to that, Mr. Brockman was in marketing at Ford Motor Company. Mr. Brockman is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Centre College in Danville, KY; on the Board of Trustees of Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine; and is on the Council of Overseers of Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University. Mr. Brockman holds a BSBA from the University of Florida (summa cum laude). He is survived by his brother David; his wife of 53 years, Dorothy Kay Brockton; a son, Robert Brockman II; a daughter-in-law; a grandson; and a granddaughter.