BOSTON - The co-owners of a Boston-area home healthcare company were sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for underreporting income to the IRS resulting in over $1 million in losses.
Hannah Holland, 51, of Quincy, and Sheila O’Connell, 51, of North Weymouth, were each sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf to six months in prison and three years of supervised release. Both were also ordered to pay $1,126,112 in restitution. In November 2018, Holland and O’Connell pleaded guilty to an Information charging them with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and three counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns.
Holland and O’Connell co-owned and operated Erin’s Own Home Healthcare Inc. (Erin’s Own). Between 2010 and 2014, Holland and O’Connell cashed over $3.5 million of Erin’s Own business checks through nominee bank accounts controlled by a third-party. During this time period, Holland also personally cashed over $77,000 of Erin’s Own business receipts. None of these funds were ever reported to the IRS or accounted for in the company’s tax filings. Instead, Holland and O’Connell provided their tax preparer with a limited set of the financial records that did not cover the substantial amounts of business funds Holland and O’Connell diverted. As a result of the underreporting, Erin’s Own caused a loss of $1,126,112 to the IRS.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jordi de Llano, Deputy Chief of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit, and Trial Attorney Brittney Campbell of the Department of Justice’s Tax Division prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
