Warrington Man Charged In Tax Fraud Scheme

PHILADELPHIA, PA — A Bucks County man has been implicated in a scheme to defraud the IRS and falsify union benefits, the U.S. Attorney's Office Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced Wednesday.

Michael McKale, 47, of Warrington, could face up to 14 years in prison if convicted. The accountant was working for Donald Dougherty, owner of Dougherty Electric, Inc., in Philadelphia, and knowingly participating in efforts to defraud the IRS, including filing false tax returns and defrauding a bank, U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said in a news release.

According to the indictment, the pair worked together to falsify corporate records so that Dougherty could pay less federal income tax than was legally required of him. Other allegations include giving his wife a no-show job at his company that paid $166,000 annually. In total, Dougherty is charged with claiming around $1.1 million in improper business expense deductions, causing a tax loss of around $416,000, prosecutors said. He's also accused of stealing from employee benefit plans.

“Donald Dougherty’s alleged schemes to enrich himself had multiple victims: hard-working union employees, bank stakeholders, and honest American taxpayers who pay their tax obligations,” U.S. Attorney Williams said. “Further, he found an accountant to help him defraud the IRS by secretly changing properly recorded expenses into fraudulent ones. And when the defendants thought their scheme might be uncovered, they allegedly cooked the books even further to cover their tracks."

If convicted, Dougherty faces the possibility of life in prison and a $9.2 million fine, while McKale faces a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release and a $1 million fine.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and the Department of Labor.