BOSTON – A Tewksbury real estate developer was charged last week with defrauding the government of more than $480,000 by engaging in a multi-year tax evasion scheme.
Arnold Martel, 61, was charged and has agreed to plead guilty to one count of tax evasion. A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled.
According to the charging documents, for tax years 2014 through 2017, Martel personally received more than $1.2 million in payments for upgrades to condominums his company sold. Martel deposited the payments into his personal accounts or cashed them, but did not report this income on this tax returns.
The charge of tax evasion provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Martel is also required to pay restitution to the IRS. 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 Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Miron Bloom of Mendell’s Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.
