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Olean Man Sentenced for Bank Fraud and Tax Evasion
Joseph Stevens, a 54-year-old Certified Public Accountant from Olean, New York, has been sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for his role in a bank fraud and tax evasion scheme.
Stevens, who was hired to handle the bookkeeping responsibilities for a business owner in 2012, was given access to the business’s bank account information for two accounts at a Five Star Bank branch in Warsaw, New York.
Beginning in early 2016, Stevens started to notify the business owner that the business was not doing well financially, but in reality, he was embezzling funds from the accounts. He made approximately $342,700 in unauthorized electronic withdrawals from the business owner’s accounts to his personal accounts and forged approximately 39 checks in the amount of $87,800.
In addition to the bank fraud, Stevens also failed to file income tax returns for 2014 and 2015, resulting in a loss of $82,482 to the IRS. The defendant was ordered to pay $512,982 in restitution to the victim and the Internal Revenue Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie P. Grisanti, who handled the case, stated that Stevens’s actions were a betrayal of the trust placed in him as a Certified Public Accountant.
The sentencing 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 Acting Inspector-in-Charge Delany E. De Leon-Colon of the Boston Division.
U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced the sentencing, which is a major victory for the victims of Stevens’s crimes.
Stevens’s sentence sends a strong message that those who commit financial crimes will be held accountable for their actions.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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