BOSTON — A federal grand jury on Wednesday convicted former state senator Brian Joyce's certified public accountant on fraud charges, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts.
John Nardozzi, 67, of Waltham, was convicted of defrauding the Internal Revenue Service of approximately $600,000 from 2011 through 2014. Prosecutors said he applied income on Joyce's personal tax return that should have been reported on the late senator's corporate tax return.
Nardozzi was also convicted of falsely creating a single-employment pension fund for Joyce and his wife, which they weren't entitled to. In doing so, Nardozzi enabled Joyce and his wife to defer taxes on approximately $400,000 of income.
Prosecutors said Nardozzi also helped Joyce in an illegal rollover of the late senator's single-employment pension account to buy stock in a private company without following the individual retirement account rollover rules.
In addition, Nardozzi attributed income from Joyce's law firm to Joyce's wife even though she never worked for the law firm.
The judge schedule sentencing for January 9.
The charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of aiding and assisting in filing a false tax return provides for a sentence of up to three years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of up to $100,000.
Joyce was also facing federal corruption charges. He died in September of last year from a drug overdose, according to the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.