Shelby Twp. Mortgage Broker Cheats Tax Returns, Steals From IRS: Feds

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, MI — A Shelby Township mortgage broker is in trouble after he was accused of stealing money from the IRS to pay for personal expenses and debts, according to the Department of Justice.

Todd A. Marra was charged with conspiring to defraud the United States and filing false income tax returns. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison for the conspiracy count and a maximum of three years in prison for each false tax return count.

Marra was a fifty-percent shareholder and co-managing partner of a mortgage brokerage in Troy, where he and another person conspired to defraud the IRS by diverting more than $1.6 million in business proceeds, according to the Department of Justice.

Officials said Marra and his co-conspirator withdrew cash shortly after depositing checks into the business’s bank account, and did not record all deposits and withdrawals on the business’s books and records.

Marra and his co-conspirator are accused of using the stolen money to pay for personal expenses and debts, officials said.

The two then gave false records to their return preparer that underreported gross receipts and concealed the diversion of funds, officials said.

"The indictment alleges that their actions caused the filing of false partnership returns that substantially underreported the business's gross receipts and overreported expenses, and also caused the filing of false personal income tax returns that substantially underreported Marra's income," officials said.