Mortgage broker from Shelby Township accused of defrauding IRS

A federal grand jury in Detroit indicted a Macomb County man this week with conspiring to defraud the IRS and filing false income tax returns.

From 2012 to 2018, Todd A. Marra of Shelby Township was a 50% shareholder and co-managing partner of a mortgage brokerage in Troy, according to the federal indictment returned on Tuesday.

IRS investigators allege that during that time, Marra and another individual conspired to defraud the IRS by diverting more than $1.6 million in business proceeds. 

The indictment alleges that Marra and his co-conspirator withdrew cash shortly after depositing checks into the business’s bank account and did not record all deposits and withdrawals on the business’s books and records, a U.S. Department of Justice news release says.

Marra and his co-conspirator are accused of using business proceeds to pay for personal expenses and debts and then provided false records to their return preparer that underreported gross receipts and concealed the diversion of funds, federal officials say.

The indictment alleges that their actions caused the filing of false partnership returns that underreported the business’s gross receipts and overreported expenses. It also also resulted in the filing of false personal income tax returns that substantially underreported Marra’s income, officials say.

If convicted, Marra faces up to five years in prison for the conspiracy count and a maximum of three years in prison for each false tax return count.

jchambers@detroitnews.com