Hampton Man Sentenced to 18 Months for False Tax Return

NEWPORT NEWS, VA—Terry A. Miller, 47, of Hampton, Va., was sentenced today to 18 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release, for making a false statement on his tax return. He was ordered to pay $344,000 in restitution.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Rebecca A. Sparkman, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation’s Washington, D.C., Field Office; and Alex J. Turner, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Norfolk Division, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Henry C. Morgan, Jr. Miller pled guilty on June 14, 2010.

According to court documents, from approximately 2002 through 2008, Miller was employed as an accountant and comptroller for Virginia Home Medical located in Newport News, Va. Miller was responsible for making entries into the company’s accounting records to account for expenditures, handling payroll, and preparing payment checks for company bills from the company’s business bank account. The president of the company was the only individual with the authority to endorse company checks, but sometimes used a signature stamp for endorsement. No employee was authorized to use the signature stamp.

In 2002, Miller began to embezzle funds. Without authorization he increased his salary, prepared company checks made payable to himself and deposited the checks into his own bank account, and made company checks payable to petty cash cashed the checks, and used the funds for personal expenditures. He also used company checks to pay personal debt and expenses often by the unauthorized use of the president’s signature stamp. The loss to Virginia Home Medical was more than $480,000. Upon the discovery of the embezzlement, Miller’s employment was terminated and he began making payments to Virginia Home Medical in an effort to repay the stolen funds.

During tax years 2002-2008, Miller prepared and filed joint U. S. Individual Tax Return Forms which documented his increased salary, but failed to disclose the embezzled funds. When interviewed by law enforcement agents, Miler admitted to embezzling the funds and failing to report them on his tax returns so as not to draw attention to the embezzlement. The tax owed as a result of the false tax returns from 2002 through 2008 totals approximately $138,000.

This case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Brian J. Samuels prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.