Former Director of Finance sentenced to three years in federal prison for wire and tax fraud

GRAND RAPIDS — U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge announced June 3 that Brian John Scalabrino, 47, formerly of East Grand Rapids, was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison for committing wire and tax fraud. He was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release, pay $348,365 in restitution to Metal Standard, and pay $112,363 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. Chief U.S. District Judge Robert J. Jonker imposed the sentence.

Scalabrino, who was the former Director of Finance for Metal Standard Corporation of Holland, altered his payroll records to show a negative federal income tax withholding amount for most pay periods. This fraudulently raised his income so that his net income exceeded his reported gross income. He used this method to fraudulently increase his annual pay by approximately $50,000 each year.

Scalabrino filed false federal income tax returns, causing a loss to taxpayers of $112,363.00. He also submitted false IRS Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statements which showed fictitious amounts of federal tax withheld from his paychecks.

“Today, Justice is served, and Brian Scalabrino will be held accountable for his criminal actions. Scalabrino not only embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from his former employer and failed to report income to the IRS, he also created and submitted false IRS Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statements to the IRS,” said Sarah Kull, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge, Detroit Field Office. “IRS-CI will continue to vigorously investigate corporate embezzlement to protect our nation's tax system and ensure everyone pays their fair share.”

The Criminal Investigation section of the Internal Revenue Service handled the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Clay Stiffler handled the prosecution.