BEVERLY — A Beverly man who stole millions of dollars worth of excise taxes from the city of Boston will spend the next 18 months in jail.
Stephen Colahan, 53, pleaded guilty yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court to charges of larceny over $250 by continuous scheme and procurement fraud, He was also ordered to pay $1.9 million in restitution to the city.
Colahan's company, Walker Associates, was under contract with the city from 1995 until June 2007 to collect delinquent motor vehicle excise taxes from Boston residents. Beginning in June 2001, Colahan began taking money out of the bank account where the company deposited the city's tax and fee collections and using it to cover Walker's business expenses.
He repeatedly stole from the account over the next five years, transferring more than $2.7 million into his company's account, the attorney general office's investigation found. Colahan periodically made repayments, totaling $800,000, to the city account.
Late in 2006, the city demanded that Walker Associates submit a complete copy of its computer data related to excise tax collections. The company, at Colahan's direction, produced misleading data that omitted taxpayer payments that had actually been made but never been reported or turned over to the city, according to a press release from the Attorney General Martha Coakley's office. The company, following Colahan's instructions, also gave falsified information to the city's new vendor in 2007.
Superior Court Judge Carol Ball sentenced Colahan to 21รขÑ2 years in jail with 18 months to serve. The balance of the sentence will be suspended for a 10-year probationary period.
The attorney general's office began its inquiry in October 2007 after being alerted by Boston Police and the city. State police assigned to the attorney general's office and officers from the Boston Police Anti-Corruption Unit assisted with the investigation.
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
