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January 13, 2021

Shoreline accountant sentenced in tax evasion case 

PHOTO | Pixabay.com
By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

A shoreline accountant and businessman who was convicted of evading over $1 million in taxes was sentenced Tuesday to 30 months in prison.

U.S. District Court Judge Janet Bond Arterton imposed the sentence on Louis DeMaio, 70, of Guilford, in a proceeding which took place via videoconference because of the pandemic.

DeMaio is free on a $100,000 bond and must report to the federal Bureau of Prisons on May 12.

In August, he pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and one count of obstructing and impeding the due administration of Internal Revenue laws.

After he serves his sentence, DeMaio will be on supervised release for one year. He must also pay full restitution, plus interest and penalties.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, DeMaio underreported his income by more than $2.5 million, resulting in a tax loss to the government of $1,132,398.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Schmeisser had asked the judge to impose a sentence in the range of 37 to 46 months, given the duration of the conduct, which took place between 2010 and 2018. 

According to Schmeisser, DeMaio used funds to pay for personal expenses, including for his mortgage, country club fees and for casinos.

DeMaio’s defense attorney, Robert M. Casale, asked the judge to impose a period of home confinement. Casale cited both his client’s status as a nonviolent offender and the risks associated with COVID-19 in prisons.

Casale, in a pre-sentencing memorandum, acknowledged that his client “did exactly what the government says he did.”

However, Casale described his client as someone who frequently gave money to help others in need. 

“His only vice, if you will, is that he is an extremely kindhearted individual who always thinks of others over himself,” Casale wrote, in the memorandum. 

DeMaio worked as an accountant in East Haven and, from approximately 2010 to 2018, also operated Almatt LLC, a temporary employment agency that provided day laborers to construction companies, documents show. Almatt, which has since been dissolved, had been based in West Haven, according to the Secretary of the State’s office.

While another individual is listed as being the company’s owner, prosecutors assert that DeMaio effectively owned and ran the business.

According to federal prosecutors, Almatt would invoice construction companies for the cost of labor. From the payments it received, it would then pay employees. 

Almatt and DeMaio provided employees with W-2 forms indicating that federal taxes had been withheld. Instead, DeMaio failed to withhold tax money or pay the required withholdings to the IRS, according to the government.

DeMaio also issued checks from Almatt made out to himself and to family members who did not work at the business. Through this scheme, DeMaio and his family received more than $2.5 million. DeMaio never reported this income on his personal income tax returns, court documents show.

The IRS began investigating Almatt in 2015 and later expanded its probe to include DeMaio’s personal tax returns. 

When confronted by investigators, DeMaio allegedly falsely claimed money he had received represented loan repayments from the company’s owner, and he created a phony document to support his story, documents show.

Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.

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