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Orval Furlong, 72, entered a plea of guilty to one count of tax evasion in federal court in New Haven on Tuesday, Feb. 23, Daly said.
According to Daly, Furlong was a lifelong friend of a wealthy, unnamed, benefactor who paid some of his debts and financed his children’s school tuition.
During the last years of the benefactor’s life, he hired home health aides to care for the victim and was given a stipend of $8,000 to $10,000 per month, Daly said.
Furlong gave the benefactor’s attorney detailed lists of the hours worked by the home health aides and their hourly rates and he, in turn, gave Furlong checks to cover their pay, Daly said.
Daly said that Furlong, after inflating the aides’ hours and rates, paid them in cash, or by check, in an amount significantly lower than he had had represented to the attorney. He then kept the difference, Daly said.
All told, Furlong failed to report more than $500,000 in income on his 2009 through 2011 federal tax returns, Daly said.
Scheduled to be sentenced in June, Furlong faces up to five years behind bars and a fine of $250,000.
Daly said Furlong has agreed to pay $105,693 in back taxes, plus interest and penalties.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher W. Schmeisser.
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