Assistant U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross, who is handling the
case, stated that in August 2012, the defendant, a Certified Public Accountant
(CPA), was hired by a business owner to handle all of the bookkeeping
responsibilities for his business. Responsibilities included paying vendors,
employee payroll, and personal and business tax return preparation. In order to
perform the accounting duties, Stevens was given access to the business’ bank
account information for the business owner’s two business accounts at a Five
Star Bank branch in Warsaw, NY.
Beginning in early 2016, the defendant began to notify the
business owner that the business was not doing well financially. For instance,
a $30,000.00 line of credit at Five Star Bank was maxed out without
authorization. When questioned about the line of credit, Stevens told the
business owner that the business was not generating enough revenue. Also,
sometime in 2016, the business owner received a letter from the Internal
Revenue Service stating that his 2015 taxes had not been paid. When the
business owner questioned the defendant, Stevens again stated that the business
was not generating enough revenue.
In September 2016, the business owner realized that monthly
statements for the Five Star Bank accounts were no longer being received at the
business owner’s office. On March 24, 2017, the business owner went to the bank
branch to review the business accounts activity.
Between August 2012 and April 2017, Stevens made
approximately $342,700.00 in unauthorized electronic withdrawals from the
business owner’s accounts to his personal accounts and forged approximately 39
checks, made payable to himself, in the amount of $87,800.
In addition, the defendant failed to file an income tax
return for 2015 result in a loss of $53,296.00 to the IRS and also failed to
file an income tax return for 2014 resulting in a tax loss of $29,186.00.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Internal
Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations Division, under the direction of James
D. Robnett, Special Agent-in-Charge, New York Field Office, and the United
States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector-in-Charge
Shelly Binkowski of the Boston Division. Sentencing is scheduled for June 7,
2018 at 2:00 p.m. before Judge Wolford.
