Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

A Cumberland man was sentenced today to more than four years' federal imprisonment for tax and bank fraud.

Michael P. Tatro, 38, was also sentenced to five years of supervised release to be served after the 51 months of prison by Judge William E. Smith in U.S. District Court in Providence, according to a news release from the office of acting U.S. Attorney Nora Dannehy in Connecticut, who handled the prosecution.

Tatro pleaded guilty on March 11 to one count of making and subscribing a false tax return and one count of bank fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

From May 2002 through September 2003, Tatro "engaged in a scheme to defraud Citizens Bank," the news release states, through which he caused various checking accounts to be opened, created counterfeit checks, caused the counterfeit checks to be negotiated through accounts under his control, and caused the money to be withdrawn or otherwise moved out of the accounts before it was disocovered the checks were counterfeit.

Tatro filed a false 2002 federal tax return stating he was single and his income was $77,944, when he was actually married and had gotten income "substantially in excess" of the stated amount that year. Tatro failed to report on his tax return bank fraud proceeds as well as money he obtained under false pretenses from his employer, Thielsch Engineering.

Tatro admitted the intended loss related to the bank fraud was $150,134, and the tax loss to the Internal Revenue Service was $58,000.36.

As part of the supervised release, Tatro must pay $59,178 in restitution to Citizens Bank and cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service to resolve his outstanding tax liabilities. He also has to participate in a mental health treatment program.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

 Tags  crime Cumberland tax fraud

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