Albany-Area Man Sentenced to 63 Months for Defrauding Corporate Employer and Filing a False Tax Return

ALBANY, NY—Richard S. Hartunian, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, and Toni Weirauch, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, New York Field Office, announced that Craig Matuszak, age 49, of Gansevoort, New York, was sentenced Tuesday, January 14, 2014, in U.S. District Court in Albany, New York. U.S. District Judge Mae D’Agostino sentenced Matuszak to 63 months’ imprisonment, three years’ supervised release to follow the term of imprisonment, an order of restitution of $3,237,200.49 to Velocitel Inc., an order of restitution of $439,019 to the Internal Revenue Service, and forfeiture of his home and vehicles.

On August 9, 2012, Matuszak pled guilty to one count of mail fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341 and 2; and one count of filing a false income tax return in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(1). Matuszak, an employee of Velocitel Inc., admitted that he, together with an independent contractor for Velocitel Inc., devised and executed a scheme to defraud Velocitel Inc. by billing them for services that were never provided. Matuszak further admitted that he did not declare the income he received from the fraudulent scheme on his income tax return.

This prosecution resulted from a joint investigation conducted by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Syracuse, New York Resident Agency. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tamara B. Thomson. Further questions may be directed to Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney John Duncan at (315) 448-0672.