A Northbrook bookkeeper for two Chicago-area staffing companies pleaded guilty Monday to defrauding the United States of more than $24 million in taxes, officials said.
Barry Poticha, 73, admitted in federal court that he conspired to defraud the IRS for at least a decade by falsifying corporate tax returns and W-2 forms to reduce the taxes assessed against the companies he worked for and their owners, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Poticha stated in a plea agreement that he caused a total federal tax loss of more than $24 million.
Beginning around 2000 and continuing through Dec. 19, 2011, he conspired with an independent contractor to falsify information supplied to the IRS in the Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return (Form 941) filed by the companies, as well as in false W-2 forms the companies provided to their employees and the IRS, according to the statement.
When employees discovered discrepancies in the W-2 forms, Poticha issued letters to conceal the fraud, which resulted in the $24 million federal tax loss, according to the statement.
Poticha also admitted filing false personal income tax returns on his own behalf for tax years 2010 through 2015, according to the statement.
In each of those years, he underreported his own income and over-reported his income tax withholding, resulting in a federal tax loss of approximately $342,000 and a state tax loss of approximately $33,000, according to the statement.
The conviction is punishable by up to five years in prison, according to the statement. Poticha’s sentencing has been scheduled for August 14.
akukulka@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @AKukulka11
