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Mass. man sentenced to federal prison for defrauding IRS of more than $1 million in employment taxes

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Guilty verdict (olegkruglyak3 - stock.adobe.com)

BOSTON — A Hopkinton man has been sentenced to federal prison for defrauding the Internal Revenue Service and Travelers Insurance Company of more than $1 million in relation to wages he paid to employees of his two construction companies.

Dariusz Pietron, 51, was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani to serve 18 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, Acting U.S. Attorney Josh Levy said in a statement on Monday.

Pietron was also ordered to pay restitution of $1.1 million to the IRS and $244,000 to the Travelers Insurance Company.

In May, Pietron pleaded guilty to three counts of failure to collect and pay over employment taxes to the IRS and one count of mail fraud relating to underpaid workers’ compensation insurance premiums.

Between 2012 and October 2018, Pietron owned and operated TJM Construction, Inc. and Point Construction, Inc. Pietron failed to report to the IRS the wages he paid to employees, failed to withhold required income taxes and failed to pay required employment taxes, Levy said.

Pietron also failed to disclose to Travelers Insurance Company the actual wages he paid to employees, which resulted in him paying less in workers’ compensation insurance premiums than he owed, Levy said.

As part of the scheme, Pietron recruited and paid two employees to establish three shell companies – companies that would make it appear as if TJM and Point’s employees were subcontractors to whom Pietron had no tax or workers’ compensation obligations, Levy said.

Pietron thereby failed to pay more than $1.1 million in employment taxes and defrauded Travelers of approximately $244,000, prosecutors said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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