Former Kirtland Man Sentenced To Prison For Tax Violations

A former Kirtland man was sentenced to more than two years in prison for filing false income taxes, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

John C. Hartman, age 61, previously pleaded guilty to two counts of filing false tax returns for the years 2005 and 2006. His tax returns omitted more than $360,000 in income obtained from relatives that he defrauded, according to court documents.

Hartman solicited the money from family members under the guise that he was going to invest their money in various investments such as stock, raw materials and real property. He never invested these funds. Instead, Hartman used these funds to pay for personal expenses, according to court documents.

Hartman also obtained money by telling his friends and family members that he needed funds to pay for outstanding tax obligations, a bad stock investment, and medical expenses for his sick wife. He obtained these funds under the guise of loans. Hartman had no such delinquent tax obligations or bad stock investments and his wife did not have the serious medical condition that Hartman described. Hartman had no intention to repay any of the funds he purported to be loans. Instead, Hartman spent the funds on personal expenses, according to court documents.

The unreported income from fraud for 2005 and 2006 was $230,000 and $136,500, respectively. The tax loss for 2005 and 2006 was $65,797 and $17,963, respectively.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert Patton and Special Assistant United States Attorney Perry D. Mastrocola, following an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division.