The co-owners of a Boston-area home healthcare company pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday for tax crimes resulting in over $1 million in losses, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling for the District of Massachusetts.

Hannah Holland, 51, of Quincy, Massachusetts, and Sheila O’Connell, 51, of North Weymouth, Massachusetts, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and three counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns.

According to court documents, Holland and O’Connell co-owned and operated Erin’s Own Home Healthcare Inc. (Erin’s Own), a home healthcare business. Between 2010 and 2014, Holland and O’Connell directed another individual to cash over $3.5 million of Erin’s Own business checks through nominee bank accounts. During this time, Holland also personally deposited or cashed over $77,000 of Erin’s Own business checks. None of these funds were reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or accounted for in the company’s tax filings. Instead, Holland and O’Connell provided their tax preparer with a limited set of financial records that did not cover the substantial amounts of business funds Holland and O’Connell diverted. As a result of the underreporting, Erin’s Own caused a loss of $1,126,112 to the United States.

Sentencing is scheduled for February 13, 2019. Holland and O’Connell each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison on the conspiracy count and three years in prison on each count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, as well as a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties. 

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Lelling commended special agents from IRS-Criminal Investigation, who are investigating the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jordi de Llano, Deputy Chief of the United States Attorney’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit, and Tax Division Trial Attorney Brittney Campbell, who are prosecuting the case.  Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.