A man from Kurtistown, Hawaii, Douglas Mycko, 61, has been sentenced to four months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $561,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to filing a false tax return. The sentence was handed down by Senior United States District Judge J. Michael Seabright. Mycko will also serve one year of supervised release following his prison term.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii, Mycko admitted as part of his plea agreement that he filed false tax returns for the years 2016 through 2020. By underreporting his business income during this period, he caused losses totaling $244,121 to the federal government and $280,308.91 to the State of Hawaii.
Mycko also acknowledged that although he continued operating his business between 2020 and 2023, he applied for and received unemployment benefits through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program by falsely claiming he was unemployed and had no income. This resulted in him receiving $37,158 in PUA funds that he was not entitled to.
United States Attorney Ken Sorenson stated: “Douglas Mycko…was sentenced yesterday in federal court by Senior United States District J. Michael Seabright to four months in federal prison followed by one year of supervised release for making and subscribing a false tax return. Mycko was also ordered to pay restitution totaling $561,587.91.”
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aislinn Affinito.
The Department of Justice established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force on May 17, 2021, aiming to coordinate efforts across agencies against pandemic-related fraud schemes and assist with enforcement actions. More information about these efforts is available at https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.
Individuals who have information regarding attempted COVID-19 fraud are encouraged to report it either by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud at 866-720-5721 or submitting an online complaint at www.justice.gov/DisasterComplaintForm.
