A former Middletown resident has been charged in connection with a $6.5 million invoicing scheme.
The Indictment, handed down by a federal grand jury this week, charged Michael Boyce, currently of Ocean City, NJ and formerly of Middletown, with wire fraud, money laundering, false statement and tax evasion offenses.
He faces up to 20 years in prison on the wire fraud and money laundering charges, up to 30 years on the false statement charges, and five years on tax evasion offenses.
The Indictment alleges that, between 2004 and 2016, Boyce, who was employed in the information technology department of a manufacturing company in New Castle County, submitted purchase orders for more than $6.5 million of supplies that were never provided to the victim company, according to a release from the U.S Attorney’s Office for Delaware.
Boyce submitted or caused others to submit fake invoices to the company and forged the necessary approvals on the accompanying purchase orders.
Boyce also falsified documents verifying receipt of the phantom supplies. Based on the documentation, the company paid the two suppliers listed on the invoices. Those suppliers, in turn, gave more than 85 percent of those payments back to Boyce.
No companies were named in a release announcing the indictment.
While Boyce declared some of his income on his taxes, for tax years 2012-2015, he omitted at least $1.4 million of that income, resulting in a failure to pay an additional amount of tax totaling more than $579,000.
Also according to the Indictment, in connection with two different mortgage applications, Boyce falsely represented that at least some of his illegal income was, in fact, legitimate business income.
“I want to thank both the IRS and the FBI for their hard work in seeing this case to indictment,” stated Acting U.S. District Attorney David Weiss. “These investigative efforts ensure that those who abuse their positions to enrich themselves will eventually be brought to justice. We remain committed to prosecuting those who betray not only the private trust of their employer, but also defraud the United States government.”
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the IRS, Criminal Investigation and the FBI.
The charges in the Indictment are only allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
