Former Operator of Two Municipal Golf Courses Found Guilty of Tax Conspiracy and Making False Statement to Financial Institution

A federal jury convicted a Massachusetts man Monday for conspiring to defraud the United States and making a false statement to a financial institution related to his purchase of real estate. He was acquitted of embezzlement from a local government receiving federal benefits, wire fraud, money laundering and unlawful monetary transactions.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Kevin M. Kennedy, of East Longmeadow, conspired with two individuals in western Massachusetts to evade taxes Kennedy owed on money he received from his ownership of a company that managed two municipal golf courses on behalf of the City of Springfield. Kennedy paid for, mostly in cash, the construction of two custom homes in East Longmeadow and on Cape Cod. To induce the bank to provide him a mortgage for part of the East Longmeadow home, Kennedy submitted a home purchase contract to the bank that falsely reflected a total purchase price reduced by the $160,000 cash downpayment he had made.

Just prior to trial, Kennedy pleaded guilty to four counts of filing a false individual income tax return for 2011 through 2014, during which he also admitted to filing a false return in 2009 and 2010. For each of those years, Kennedy did not report to his return preparer all of the cash and checks his management company received from his operation of the golf courses.

Kennedy is scheduled to be sentenced on March 1, 2024, and faces maximum penalties of 30 years in prison for making a false statement to a financial institution, five years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States and three years in prison for each count of filing a false tax return. He also faces a period of supervised release, criminal forfeiture and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy for the District of Massachusetts made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Assistant Chief Eric B. Powers of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Desroches for the District of Massachusetts are prosecuting the case.