Solon Accountant Charged For Alleged Four Year Fraud Scheme

SOLON, OH — The IRS is charging a Solon accountant for attempting to defraud the agency. Patrick DiPietro, 51, allegedly used checks from a company's bank account for "rent" before actually paying two other men, the Department of Justice said.

DiPietro is also being accused of misleading the IRS. “Conspiring to impede the IRS by creating business checks for expenses not actually incurred and receiving a ‘kickback’ from those fraudulent business checks is not tax savings, but rather a recipe for criminal prosecution,” said Ryan L. Korner, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati Field Office.

Between 2007 and 2012, DiPietro allegedly used a company owned by two other people to write checks for business expenses, like rent. However, the IRS said DiPietro actually deposited the checks into an account he controlled and then wrote checks back to the two business owners for about 90 percent of what was deposited. The 51-year-old is accused of keeping 10 percent for himself as a "fee."

“This defendant enriched himself by taking money that should have been going into the U.S. Treasury,” U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said.

The accountant is also accused of preparing false tax returns for people and their business for the years 2007 through 2011. He allegedly understated the taxable income and overstated business deductions, according to information from the Department of Justice.

During the IRS investigation, the 51-year-old allegedly handed over fake documents to investigating agents, apparently in an attempt to explain checks written to his business entity from other businesses. None of the documents handed to the IRS were legitimate, according to information from the Department of Justice.

The Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation unit investigated DiPietro.

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