Woman Accused of Embezzling Nearly $247,000

A former medical office manager pleaded guilty Tuesday to tax and structuring offenses totaling more than $240,000 over a three-year period.

Andrea M. Dobrozensky, 62, of New Hartford, pleaded guilty in New Haven federal court to one count of filing a false tax return and one count of unlawfully structuring financial transactions, Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between 2007 and 2009, while working as an office manager for a medical practice in Hartford, Dobrozensky made numerous transfers and deposits from the medical practice business bank account into her personal bank account as compensation for her services to the medical practice and untaken vacation time. During those three years, Dobrozensky willfully failed to provide her tax return preparer with information concerning her receipt of approximately $247,000 in additional taxable income. Each year, she signed her completed federal tax return and it was filed with the IRS. As a result, $247,000 in taxable income was not reported on her federal tax returns for the 2007, 2008 and 2009 tax years, and she failed to pay a total of $76,750 in additional taxes owed.

Dobrozensky also unlawfully structured financial transactions. On Nov. 27, 2012, she was at a branch of Farmington Bank in Avon with another person who told her to write checks in amounts below $10,000. Dobrozensky wrote two checks, one to herself for $9,900 and one to the person with her for $9,900. She then cashed the check payable to her and received $9,900 in cash. The person with her cashed the check payable to him and received $9,900 in cash. He later handed the $9,900 to Dobrozensky.

Federal law requires all financial institutions to file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) for currency transactions that exceed $10,000. To evade the filing of a CTR, individuals will often structure their currency transactions so that no single transaction exceeds $10,000. Structuring involves the repeated depositing or withdrawal of amounts of cash less than the $10,000 limit, or the splitting of a cash transaction that exceeds $10,000 into smaller cash transactions in an effort to avoid the reporting requirements. Even if the deposited funds are derived from a legitimate means, financial transactions conducted in this manner are still in violation of federal criminal law.

On Dec. 19, 2013, IRS Special Agents interviewed Dobrozensky at her residence. On that date, she admitted that she should have reported the additional income on her federal tax returns. She specifically stated that, on Nov. 16, 2007, she wrote a check in the amount of $100,000 on the medical business account payable to herself, received the funds and did not report those funds on her federal tax return. She also admitted that, as to the structuring violation, the other person with her at the bank who cashed one of the $9,900 checks had advised her to keep any payments under $10,000 to avoid filling out a form.

Dobrozensky is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton on Jan. 6, 2016, at which time she faces a maximum term of imprisonment of eight years and a fine of up to $500,000. She also has agreed to pay the IRS $76,750 in taxes, plus penalties and interest, and to forfeit $9,900 related to her structuring activity

Dobrozensky is released on bond pending sentencing.

This matter has been investigated by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Hartford Police Department.