10/02/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/02/2024 21:42
Date: Oct. 2, 2024
Contact: [email protected]
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Martin Handler was sentenced today to 58 months in prison for defrauding the federal Head Start program, misappropriating over $1 million from his federally-funded childcare company, and tax evasion. Handler pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Jennifer H. Rearden on March 15, 2024. Judge Rearden imposed today's sentence.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: "Martin Handler and his co-conspirators defrauded a vital federal childcare program that aims to serve one of society's most vulnerable populations. By secretly exploiting a non-profit entity for his own financial gain, Handler exploited the system and undermined the public's trust in the Head Start program. My Office is committed to pursuing justice against those who place greed above their responsibility to be stewards of federal funds, and I commend our law enforcement partners and the dedicated team of career prosecutors for their outstanding work."
According to the Indictment, public court filings, and statements made in court proceedings:
In addition to today's prison sentence, Handler of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release, ordered to pay a fine of $200,000, to forfeit $1,156,068.10, and to pay restitution of $1,156,068.10 to HHS, and to pay restitution of $740,000 to the IRS.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Federal Bureau of Investigation, and HHS, Office of the Inspector General. Mr. Williams also thanked U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Inspector General, and the New York City Department of Investigation for their assistance with this investigation.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office's Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel H. Wolf, Catherine Ghosh, Jacob R. Fiddelman, and Stephanie Simon are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Jayda Foote.
IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.