Hanover Paving Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion

BOSTON – The owner of a commercial and residential paving business in Hanover pleaded guilty yesterday in connection with an income diversion scheme. 

William E. Dyer, 56, pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion. U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young scheduled sentencing for March 8, 2022. Dyer was charged on Oct. 26, 2021.

Dyer owned and operated Pilgrim Paving. From 2014 through 2018, Dyer diverted payments from Pilgrim Paving customers by directing customers to write checks to him and then cashing those checks. Dyer failed to report over $1.7 million in diverted receipts and additional business deposits on the tax returns that he filed or that he directed a tax preparer to file on his behalf. As a result of this conduct, Dyer underreported his personal income tax obligations, causing a loss to the Internal Revenue Service of nearly $600,000.

The charge of tax evasion provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell and Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Holcomb of Mendell’s Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.