New Hampshire Woman Sentenced for Transportation of Stolen Property and Tax Evasion

Contact: Halsey B. Frank
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257

Portland, Maine:  United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that yesterday United States District Judge D. Brock Hornby sentenced Janis F. Woods, 65, of Conway, New Hampshire to 26 months incarceration, 3 years supervised release and $1,135,371.70 worth of restitution for one count of interstate transportation of stolen checks and one count of tax evasion.  Woods pleaded guilty on October 29, 2014.

According to court documents, Woods used her position as bookkeeper for two businesses, Grover Gundrilling, Inc. of Norway, Maine and VM Foods of Conway, New Hampshire, to issue herself unauthorized checks. Between about January of 2009 and about January of 2012, Woods wrote a total of approximately 169 unauthorized checks totaling approximately $742,081 on Grover Gundrilling’s business account. The total tax due and owing as a result of Woods’ having fraudulently obtained $742,081.31 from Grover Gundrilling is $224,157. Between about 2007 and about 2009, Woods wrote unauthorized checks drawn on VM Foods account, payable to herself, totaling approximately 220,456.48.  The total tax due and owing as a result of Woods’ having fraudulently obtained $220,456.48 from VM Foods Inc. is $59,820.  The total tax due and owed as a result of Woods’ unreported income from both Grover Gundrilling and VM Foods is $283,977.
 
In pronouncing sentence, Judge Hornby observed that while Woods’ serious medical needs and her lack of criminal history called for leniency, her offense was serious because it lasted almost five years and inflicted over one million dollars’ worth of loss on her victims.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service.