Former Executives Of Marketing Agency Plead Guilty In Manhattan Federal Court To Filing False Tax Returns

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that MICHAEL J. MITROW, Jr., pled guilty today to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for defrauding his former employer, a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical marketing agency (the “Marketing Agency”), and co-defendant MATTHEW J. MITROW pled guilty on Monday to filing a false tax return that failed to report more than $90,000 in income. MICHAEL MITROW submitted false invoices to the Marketing Agency and used the proceeds to pay for more than $600,000 in private jet travel. MICHAEL MITROW also pled guilty to tax evasion for failing to report those proceeds to the IRS, as well as approximately $1 million of additional income he received from a co-defendant. Co-defendant MATTHEW MITROW failed to report to the IRS payments received from Creative Press that he used for home renovations, private jet travel, and other personal expenses. Both defendants pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer.

According to the Indictment and Superseding Information previously filed in Manhattan federal court, as well as statements made at plea proceedings Monday and today and in other court proceedings:

MICHAEL J. MITROW, Jr., was the former CEO and President of the Marketing Agency from 1998 through approximately 2009. From 2008 through 2009, MICHAEL MITROW defrauded the Marketing Agency by submitting fraudulent invoices for consulting services that were purportedly provided to the Marketing Agency. In truth, however, no such consulting services had been provided. Instead, MICHAEL MITROW used the proceeds from those invoices to fund more than $600,000 in private jet travel.

MICHAEL MITROW also failed to report more than $1.6 million in income he received during the 2008 tax year, including payments he received from two companies owned by Robert Madison, as well as personal purchases MICHAEL MITROW made with his corporate credit card that he fraudulently coded as business expenses of the Marketing Agency.

MATTHEW J. MITROW was the Executive Vice-President of the Marketing Agency. During the 2008 tax year, MATTHEW MITROW received approximately $91,000 in payments from Creative Press, a printing and direct mail marketing company located in Phoenix, Arizona, that provided printing and direct mailing services to the “Marketing Agency”. The payments MATTHEW MITROW received from Madison and Creative Press included approximately $39,000 in home renovations, $30,000 in payments to MATTHEW MITROW’s personal credit cards, and more than $21,000 for private jet travel. MATTHEW MITROW willfully failed to include those payments as income on his 2008 tax return. In 2009, Creative Press also paid a $19,000 debt at a New York City “Gentlemen’s Club,” which he also failed to report on his tax returns.

MICHAEL J. MITROW, Jr., 47, of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, pled guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of tax evasion, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. MICHAEL MITROW also agreed to pay restitution in an amount to be determined by the Court. MICHAEL MITROW’s sentencing is scheduled for June 25, 2015, at 9:30 a.m., before Judge Engelmayer.

MATTHEW J. MITROW, 40, of Westfield, New Jersey, pled guilty on Monday, January 26, 2015, to one count of filing a false tax return, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. MATTHEW MITROW’s sentencing is scheduled for June 4, 2015, at 11:00 a.m., before Judge Engelmayer.

The maximum sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendants will be determined by the Judge.

Mr. Bharara thanked the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, and the United States Postal Inspection Service for their outstanding investigative work in this case. Mr. Bharara also thanked the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division for its assistance.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Special Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Young and Department of Justice Tax Division Senior Litigation Counsel Nanette L. Davis are in charge of the prosecution.