Ronald P. Mulcahey, Union Benefit Fund Tax Evasion, MA 2024

BOSTON – Ronald P. Mulcahey, 53, of Andover, is headed to federal prison after admitting to a years-long scheme to cheat union benefit funds and the IRS. The owner of multiple asbestos abatement and demolition companies systematically paid employees ‘under the table’ in cash, dodging both union contributions and employment taxes. U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns handed down a sentence of one year and one day in prison, alongside one year of supervised release, and a hefty $266,983 restitution order.

The fraud centered around Wing Environmental, Inc., a company specializing in asbestos abatement and demolition. Mulcahey, as the owner and sole corporate officer of Wing Environmental, as well as Wing Inc. Specialty Trades and EWT-Fireproofing, Inc., had a collective bargaining agreement with Laborer’s International Union of North America, Local 1421. This agreement required accurate reporting of employee hours to the union benefit funds, ensuring proper contributions for healthcare, pensions, and other essential services for union members. Between January 2008 and June 2011, Mulcahey deliberately falsified those reports.

According to court documents, Mulcahey directed Wing Environmental to pay some union workers in cash, deliberately keeping those payments off the books. This allowed him to underreport the actual hours worked, effectively robbing the union benefit funds of the contributions they were rightfully owed. The scheme wasn’t limited to union funds, however. Wing Specialty Trades and EWT-Fireproofing, non-union entities also under Mulcahey’s control, were also used to facilitate the off-the-books cash payments to employees.

The IRS became a second victim of Mulcahey’s greed. By concealing wages, he avoided paying applicable employment and income taxes on the unreported earnings across all three companies. The Department of Justice stated that this systematic underreporting constituted clear tax evasion, impacting federal revenue and violating tax law. Mulcahey pleaded guilty in October 2016 to making false statements in documents submitted to benefit plans subject to Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and tax evasion.

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb, alongside Michael C. Mikulka of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, Joel P. Garland of the IRS’s Boston Field Office, and Susan A. Hensley of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, jointly announced the sentencing. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristina E. Barclay and Ryan DiSantis of the Public Corruption Unit, highlighting the seriousness with which federal authorities view this type of financial crime.

This case serves as a stark reminder that attempts to circumvent legal obligations and defraud benefit funds will be met with prosecution. The sentence handed down to Mulcahey sends a clear message: cheating workers and the government comes with significant consequences. The $266,983 in restitution will be distributed to the affected union benefit funds and the IRS, though it likely won’t fully compensate for the damage caused by Mulcahey’s deliberate deception.