RAVENNA, Ohio — A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in Ravenna has been sentenced to more than three years in jail after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $1 million from his employer and filing false tax returns.
According to the United States Department of Justice, 46-year-old Michael Harman has been sentenced to 43 months in prison after pleading guilty to a six-count information that charged him with wire fraud, making and subscribing false tax returns and money laundering. Additionally, U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver, Jr. ordered Harman to pay $1,081,875.10 in restitution to the victim, Geis Company, as well as $227,638 to the IRS.
Court documents show that Harman was a CPA and employed as a controller with his employer. In this role, Harman’s responsibilities included processing payroll adjustments.
According to court documents, Harman devised a scheme to embezzle more than $1 million from his employer and used the funds for personal use, including child support payments in the State of New York and moving expenses. Harman is alleged to have executed the scheme from August 2016-2020 by using a series of unauthorized wire transfers, fictitious checks, and fraudulent charges on his employer’s credit cards.
It was also alleged that Harman failed to report income earned from the scheme on his tax returns for the tax years from 2016-2019.
The Cleveland FBI, Akron Resident Agency and IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian M. McDonough and Aaron P. Howell.
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