Longmeadow Man Pleads Guilty to Failing to Report Over $2 Million Held in Foreign Bank Account

BOSTON - A Longmeadow man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Springfield to concealing from the Internal Revenue Service an Irish bank account he held with a balance of over $2 million.

Michael Fitzgerald, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the foreign bank reporting requirements. U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni scheduled sentencing for Jan. 3, 2018. 

United States citizens and residents who have a financial interest in a foreign bank account with a value of more than $10,000 must file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts with the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  From at least 2005 through 2012, Fitzgerald, the owner and operator of a local roofing company, held bank accounts with the Bank of Ireland in the Isle of Man.  In 2012, those bank accounts held a combined balance of over $2.3 million. 

The charge provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. Fitzgerald has agreed to pay a penalty of $1,115,320, which represents 50 percent of the account balance. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Joel P. Garland, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Deepika Bains Shukla of Weinreb’s Springfield Branch Office is prosecuting the case.