Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot released a list last Thursday of the top 25 businessess and top 25 individuals who owe back taxes to the state.

Those 50 taxpayers owe Maryland nearly $21 million in unpaid taxes, penalties and interest, according to the comptroller.

Franchot released the names as part of the comptrollers Caught in the Web initiative, which seeks to send a message to those who have ignored all attempts by the state to collect overdue taxes, according to a news release Franchot issued on the initiative.

The initiative lists the names of the delinquent taxpayers on the comptrollers website for six months, or until those on the list pay what they owe or set up a pay plan with the comptroller.

These are people who have continued to thumb their noses at us, and this is our last step to get them to comply, Caron Brace, a spokeswoman for Franchot, said Thursday.

Since the initiative began in 2000, it has collected more than $26.5 million from tax scofflaws.

Those whose names appear on the list have been sent a letter informing them they owe back taxes and asking them to contact the comptroller.

Brace said publication of the list, which is updated every six months, sometimes leads to an immediate response from some of those whose names appear.

There are other times when we never hear from the people, she said.

The comptroller can take several steps to recover the money, including filing liens and garnishing wages.

Below is the list of the top five corporate and individual delinquent taxpayers and the amounts they owe.

Corporate

OS Assets Inc. of Tampa, Fla. — $4.8 million

Cashflow Entertainment LLC of Forestville — $3.2 million

OS Capital Inc. of Tampa Fla. — $3 million

Custom Shop Automotive Inc. of Aberdeen — $541,640

MS Carpet Outlet Inc. of Columbia — $528,485

Individuals

Rex A. and Marian Frost of Phoenix, Md. — $1.2 million

John L. Katsafanas of Abingdon — $691,476

Earl R. Jenkins of Potomac — $365,166

Stephen E. Lynn of Alexandria, Va.— $288,705

Jandir De Moura of Silver Spring — $233,034

skelly@gazette.net