Willowick Woman Sentenced To 4 1/2 Years In Prison For Tax Conviction

Margaret Monone Greenaway was sentenced today to 54 months imprisonment for claiming false income tax refunds totaling $5,271,794 for the years 2010 and 2011, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney.  The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge David D. Dowd, Jr., who also imposed a three-year term supervised release following Greenaway’s incarceration.

Greenaway pleaded guilty to the two-count indictment against her on October 17, 2013.  In her written plea agreement, Greenaway admitted to filing income tax returns under her name during a prior marriage, Margaret M. Demaria-Susevich, using a “single” filing status, on which she claimed refunds to which she was not entitled of $1,326,671 for 2010 and $3,945,123 for 2011.  The claimed refunds were based on purported wages and withholding reflected in fake W-2 forms she attached to the returns.  She fabricated the W-2 forms by using the employer information on W-2 forms issued to her husband and inserting made-up amounts of wages and withholding purportedly paid to her.  Greenaway never worked for that employer.  Greenaway received the requested $3.9 million refund check for 2011 and deposited it into new bank accounts she opened.  The bank, however, alerted law enforcement authorities of possible fraud involving the check, enabling the IRS to retrieve the funds before she could spend them.

Greenaway, age 53, resided in Willowick, Ohio, until being placed in pre-trial detention in early July 2013.  After being arrested on the indictment on May 16, 2013, she was initially released on bond.  Judge Dowd revoked her bond, however, after finding that she had violated the terms of her release.  She has been in federal custody since that time, including a period in which she was evaluated for mental competency to stand trial.  After a hearing in which he found Greenaway to be competent, Judge Dowd scheduled the case for trial.  Greenaway pleaded guilty the day before her trial was set to begin. 

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John M. Siegel following an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, Cleveland, Ohio.