Former Waterbury Detective Pleads Guilty to Obstructing Tax Investigation

Deirdre M. Daly, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that Robert Liquindoli, 42, of Waterbury, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joan G. Margolis in New Haven to one count of obstruction of the administration of the Internal Revenue laws.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in December 2011, the Internal Revenue Service was conducting an investigation of Thomas Thorndike, a Waterbury tax preparer. In connection with that investigation, the IRS requested to interview Liquindoli, whose 2007 and 2008 tax returns had been prepared by Thorndike. After being contacted by the IRS, Liquindoli sought to obstruct the IRS’s investigation by obtaining false documents that he intended to present to the IRS in support of deductions he claimed on his tax returns in 2007 and 2008. Between December 2011 and February 2012, Liquindoli engaged in an effort to obtain false documents in support of false items on these tax returns and lied to the IRS concerning the extent to which he possessed original and legitimate documents to support the deductions on his tax returns. Liquindoli also falsely denied that he had attempted to obtain false documents to support those deductions.

Liquindoli was formerly employed as a detective with the Waterbury Police Department.

Liquindoli is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton on February 12, 2014, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of three years.

Liquindoli has been released on a $200,000 bond since his arrest on December 7, 2012.

Thorndike pleaded guilty to tax offenses in October 2012 and, on March 12, 2013, was sentenced to 72 months of imprisonment.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Mattei and Eric Glover.