Former Massachusetts Man Sentenced for Conspiracy to Hide $486,000 from Federally Insured Financial Institution

BOSTON – A former Massachusetts man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Springfield for his role in a conspiracy to hide money from a federally insured financial institution.

Jeffrey Borer, 59, formerly of Hatfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to 10 months in prison, four years of supervised release and ordered to pay $189,000 in restitution and $189,000 in forfeiture. In February 2019, Borer pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to make false statements to a federally insured financial institution and one count of false statements to a federally insured financial institution. 

In August 2011, Borer and another person owed Wells Fargo Bank approximately $1.32 million in outstanding loans. In March 2012, Borer’s sister, who was acting as their bookkeeper, received approximately $1.1 million, which related to a judgment from a Honduran court, in her Massachusetts bank account. The share of these funds belonging to Borer and the other person was $486,000. A few days later, Borer sent an e-mail to his sister to “keep [the] bulk” of their funds in her account because “Wells Fargo might be conducting an asset search on us to try and recover on the judgments. Just transfer what is needed to pay bills as they arrive.” Borer’s sister distributed their funds from her account as he requested.

On or about May 24, 2012, Borer’s sister prepared a false personal financial statement for Borer, stating that he and the other person only had $4,200 of cash in the bank. Borer provided the statement to Wells Fargo, which relied upon it to negotiate their debt. On Oct. 31, 2012, Borer executed a settlement agreement with Wells Fargo, in which the bank agreed to forgive Borer’s personal obligations in exchange for a payment of only $50,000. Wells Fargo would not have settled for $50,000 had it known that Borer and the other individual had received $486,000 in cash from the Honduran judgment. 

On September 20, 2018, Borer’s sister pleaded guilty to these same charges. Her sentencing is scheduled for November 12, 2019.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of Lelling’s Springfield Branch Office is prosecuting the case.