Date: October 4, 2022 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Newark, NJ — A former associate director of a global maritime service group was sentenced today to 27 months in prison for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the company and failing to pay over hundreds of thousands in federal payroll taxes, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced. David Buckingham, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden to a superseding information charging him with one count of wire fraud and one count of failure to collect, account for, and pay over federal payroll taxes. Judge Hayden imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: Buckingham held the title of associate director and head of the New York office of a global maritime service group headquartered in London, England. From 2016 through 2018, Buckingham used his position and access to the company's bank accounts to embezzle hundreds of thousands of dollars by writing checks to himself or to "cash." Buckingham falsified the company's books and records in an effort to make the payments appear to be legitimate business expenses and to cover up his fraud. From February 2016 to October 2018, Buckingham also willfully failed to account for and pay over to the IRS payroll taxes for the employees of the company in the amount of $277,051. U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Tammy Tomlins, and postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Newark, under the direction of Acting Inspector in Charge Raimundo Marrero, Philadelphia Division, with the investigation leading to today's sentencing. In addition to the prison term, Judge Hayden sentenced Buckingham to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution in the amount of $356,725 and forfeiture in the amount of $356,725. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Fayer of the U.S. Attorney's Office Economic Crimes Unit. Defense counsel: Emily Sherman Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, Newark.
