Accountant pleads guilty to tax, obstruction counts

A shoreline accountant and businessman admitted evading over $1 million in taxes this week.

Louis DeMaio, 69, of Guilford, entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court to tax evasion and obstruction of justice offenses. 

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, DeMaio’s actions resulted in a tax loss of $1,132,398, and he must pay full restitution to the Internal Revenue Service, plus interest and penalties. 

Sentencing guidelines call for him to receive between 37 and 46 months of imprisonment and a fine of $15,000 to $150,000, a plea agreement document shows.

DeMaio worked as an accountant in East Haven and, from approximately 2010 to 2018, also operated Almatt LLC of West Haven, a temporary employment agency that provided day laborers to construction companies, documents show.

While another individual is listed as being the company’s owner, prosecutors assert that DeMaio effectively owned and ran the business.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Almatt routinely invoiced construction companies for the cost of labor provided, and then would take the payments from the companies to pay employees for services.

The employees were provided with W-2 forms which indicated federal tax had been withheld. However, the government claims Almatt and DeMaio failed to withhold taxes or pay the IRS.

Almatt also never filed yearly income tax returns or required forms to show federal withholding and payroll taxes owed.

Additionally, DeMaio issued checks from Almatt to himself and to family members who didn’t work for the business. Over an eight year period ending in 2018, DeMaio and his family received more than $2.5 million from Almatt, according to the government. DeMaio did not report these distributions on his federal personal income tax returns.

The IRS began investigating Almatt in 2015 and later expanded its probe to include DeMaio’s personal tax returns. 

When confronted by investigators, DeMaio allegedly falsely claimed money he had received represented loan repayments from the company’s owner, and he created a phony document to support his story.

DeMaio is free on $100,000 bond and is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 3.

His defense attorney, Robert M. Casale of Guilford, could not be reached for comment.

Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.