Maine Man Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding Clients

ALBANY, NEW YORK - Sean O’Hare, age 55, of South Portland, Maine, was sentenced today to a year and a day in prison in connection with a scheme to defraud his tax preparation clients. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the Boston Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), made the announcement.

In previously pleading guilty, O’Hare, a former tax preparer and accountant, admitted that he defrauded his clients who trusted him to prepare their tax filings and remit their tax payments. From March 2011 through September 2016, O’Hare filed quarterly sales and use tax returns with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance that understated the amount of sales and use tax owed by three companies. O’Hare collected the full amount of taxes owed from the companies and stole the difference between the amount of tax remitted to the State of New York and the amount he received from each company. O’Hare admitted to fraudulently obtaining $131,758 from the scheme.

Senior United States District Judge Lawrence E. Kahn also ordered O’Hare to serve a 2-year term of supervised release following his release from prison, and ordered full restitution, which O’Hare paid today.

The USPIS, with assistance from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, investigated this case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander P. Wentworth-Ping prosecuted this case.