WASHINGTON --  A former owner of a New Hampshire printing company specializing in direct mail advertisements has agreed to plead guilty to a charge relating to his role in a tax conspiracy, the Department of Justice announced today.

According to the one-count felony charge filed today in the U.S. District Court in Boston, Ronald Boyarsky of Apollo, Fla., was the president and part-owner of a direct mail advertising printing company located in Pembroke, N.H.  As a part of the tax conspiracy, Boyarsky assisted in paying approximately $2.6 million in commissions earned by a printing services broker to third parties, so that the broker and his companies could avoid paying taxes on the income they earned.  

The department said in a court document that from 1999 through at least 2004, Boyarsky directed his company to pay the commissions to family, friends and associates of the broker.  Many of the third parties typically cashed checks written to them, and then passed the cash back to the broker.  As part of this scheme, the printing company paid some of the commissions directly to businesses from which the broker procured personal goods and services.

Direct mail advertising is the process by which companies specifically target potential customers and contact them with custom tailored offers, promotional materials or advertisements using the U.S. mail.

The tax conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.  The maximum fine for the offense may be increased to twice the gain derived from the offense or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the offense, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.    

Today's charge arose from an ongoing investigation into the direct mail printing services industry.  The investigation is being conducted by the Antitrust Division's New York Field Office, with the assistance of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation in Springfield, Mass.

Anyone with information concerning antitrust, fraud or tax offenses relating to the direct mail printing services industry should contact the Antitrust Division's New York Field Office at 212-264-9308 or the IRS Criminal Investigation's Springfield Office at 413-785-0090.