An Attleboro, Mass., stockbroker, financial advisor and insurance agent was found guilty on January 25 of interfering with the IRS, filing false tax returns and contempt of court.

Kevin P. Mahoney was found guilty of trying to pay the IRS with bogus checks, fake financial papers known as bills of exchange and a worthless IOU from another person.

Mahoney owed the IRS for taxes he failed to pay between 1996 and 2001. He attempted to pay these bills with $2.2 million in money that did not exist, including checks drawn on a bank account that had closed. Among other things, the court ordered him not to obstruct IRS operations, which led to the contempt charges.

Mahoney also submitted false income tax returns to the IRS for the years 2000 through 2006. He changed compensation forms from various companies to look like they paid him nothing when in fact they paid him a total of $1.3 million.

He also submitted income tax returns for other people that falsely claimed more than $50 million in refunds and claimed a personal refund of almost $389,000. He was found guilty by a jury in U.S. District Court in Boston before Judge Joseph Tauro.

--Karen DeMasters