Bookkeeper agrees to plead guilty to tax evasion and disability benefits fraud

Date: Sept. 11, 2024

Contact: [email protected]

BOSTON - The former bookkeeper for an electrical and contracting business has been charged with, and has agreed to plead guilty to, concealing income from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and stealing disability benefits.

David Tetreault of Attleboro has agreed to plead guilty to one count of tax evasion, one count of theft of government money and one count of wire fraud. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the Court.

According to the charging documents, Tetreault worked as a bookkeeper for a Massachusetts-based electrical contractor between 2015 and 2021. It is alleged that, during those years, Tetreault received wages in cash and used company funds to pay his personal credit card bills. Tetreault allegedly manipulated the company's accounting records and bank statements to disguise these payments as business expenses. As a result of this alleged conduct, Tetreault underreported his personal income by at least $2.1 million, causing a loss to the IRS of over $600,000.

It is also alleged that Tetreault did not report his work for the electrical contractor or his income to the Social Security Administration and submitted false information about his employment and income to the Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island (ERSRI). As a result of this alleged conduct, Tetreault collected over $320,000 in Social Security Disability Insurance benefits and ERSRI disability pension benefits to which he was not entitled between 2016 and 2024.

The charge of tax evasion provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of theft of government money provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) in Boston; and Corwin Rattler, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Boston Field Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Holcomb of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.

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.