Marlborough Man Pleads Guilty To Being Paid $1.6M Under The Table

MARLBOROUGH, MA — A Marlborough man pleaded guilty on Friday after being charged with cheating the IRS out of more than $1.6 million, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Stephen L. Hochberg, a former accounting and real estate executive in Sudbury, was charged after he was paid and received fringe benefits under the table, while lying to the U.S. Attorney's Office about his income. He and his boss, Charles D. Katz, the owner of accounting firm CD Katz LLC and real estate firm Gebsco Realty Corporation, agreed to cheat the IRS, according to charging documents.

Related: Marlborough Man Paid $1.6M Under The Table Facing Charges: USAO

Hochberg, who served as the Director of Corporate Services at the accounting firm and the CEO of the real estate firm, was paid off the books. This was so that Hochberg would have a tax-free income, and Katz would have lower employment taxes.

The fraudulent deal led Katz to pay Hochberg at least $1,668,487 in unreported income, which meant Katz avoided at least $835,105 in taxes, according to the USAO.

Katz also did this by paying Hochberg's family, providing rent-free housing to Hochberg's ex-wife, paying college tuition and other personal expenses. He also made a fraudulent application for more than $179,000 in pandemic relief, according to the USAO.

This is not the first fraud scheme Hochberg was involved in, the USAO said. In 2008, he was convicted of eight counts of wire fraud and nine counts of securities fraud. At the time, he was ordered to pay more than $1.7 million to his victims and was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison.

Hochberg will appear in court on April 6 for sentencing.

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