A Massachusetts certified public accountant has agreed to plead guilty to concealing nearly $1.7 million in off-the-books employee pay and lying on pandemic relief loan applications, federal prosecutors said Monday.
The CPA, Charles D. Katz, based in Sudbury, a suburb west of Boston, ran a tax and financial advisory business — CD Katz LLC — and co-owned Gebsco Realty Corp., a real estate management company. But according to prosecutors, behind the balance sheets and ledgers, Katz orchestrated a long-running tax evasion scheme that blurred the line between employee benefits and outright deception.
Secret Pay, Luxury Perks, and Tax Dodging
Federal charging documents allege that, starting around 2014, Katz arranged for one of his employees — who worked for both companies but didn’t appear on Gebsco’s payroll — to receive over $1.6 million in unreported compensation.
That hidden pay allegedly came in many forms:
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Free family housing,
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Tuition payments for the employee’s children,
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Cash, and
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Personal use of company credit cards.
Prosecutors said Katz even provided the employee with a personal driver — all while ensuring none of these perks ever appeared on official tax documents.
The IRS was kept in the dark for years, and none of the income was reflected in tax filings by Katz or the employee.
