Date: October 11, 2022 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov BOSTON — A West Springfield man was sentenced today in federal court in Springfield for embezzling over $1.4 million from his employer. Gerald Burke was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark A. Mastroianni to 31 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Burke was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims and the Internal Revenue Service. On April 13, 2022, Burke pleaded guilty to eight counts of bank fraud, two counts of mail fraud and three counts of filing a false tax return. Burke was employed as the controller of a privately owned metal stamping company in Chicopee and was responsible for the company's finances, including directing payroll and signing checks on behalf of the company. From October 2011 until his termination in 2018, Burke embezzled $1.4 million by authorizing additional payroll payments to himself and by writing checks to himself and his credit card company from the company account. He failed to report $1.2 million of his illegal income to the IRS over the nearly seven-year duration of the embezzlement scheme, thereby evading more than $160,000 in federal taxes. United States Attorney Rachel S. Rollins; Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation in Boston; and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Morgan of Rollins' Springfield Branch Office prosecuted the case.
