BOSTON - A former IRS supervisor was convicted of tax fraud late yesterday by a federal jury after a three-day trial in Worcester.
Michael Doyle, 44, of Hudson, N.H., was convicted for falsely claiming that he was eligible for a First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit. Doyle, a 20 year employee of the Internal Revenue Service, was ineligible for the tax credit because he had purchased his home in 2007 before the credit went into effect in April 2008. The jury determined that Doyle knowingly claimed the credit even though he knew that he was not eligible, and that he entered false information in his tax return to accomplish the fraud.
The First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit was part of a federal government stimulus program to encourage people to purchase homes during the financial crisis which began in 2007, and remained in effect through 2009. Doyle was indicted as part of a broader investigation into fraud in the program.
Doyle is scheduled for sentencing on May 7, 2012.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred M. Wyshak, Jr. of Ortiz's Public Corruption Unit.
