Husband of woman who stole nearly $13M faces fed tax charges

The husband of a woman convicted of sealing nearly $13 million from a Pittsburgh monuments and engraving firm has been charged with filing three fraudulent joint federal tax returns understating their income.

Gary Mills was charged with filing fraudulent returns for the tax years 2012, 2013 and 2014.

His wife, 56-year-old Cynthia Mills, pleaded guilty in March and has agreed to serve seven-and-a-half years in prison for taking the money from Matthews International Corp. from 1999 to 2015. She was the company's cashier.

A federal judge must approve the agreed-upon sentence when she returns to court July 28.

The Robinson Township woman has agreed to forfeit three homes, a yacht and two other boats, at least eight cars, and other items bought with the money, though her attorney, Phil DiLucente, has said she blew most of the money on casino gambling.

Under federal law, even stolen money must be declared as income and the charges filed against Gary Mills allege he didn't include that income in the returns he jointly filed with his wife.

According to the charges, Gary Mills filed the returns stating the couple had "other income" of $1,517,926, "total income" of $1,626,545 and "taxable income" of $104,227 in 2014, even though he "then and there knew that he and his wife had substantial additional" income.

In 2013, Gary Mills reported $716,360 in total income and in an amended 2012 return claimed $350,485 in "adjusted gross income," even though he knew the couple had substantially more income during those years, the charges said.

Gary Mills faces up to three years in prison for each of the fraudulent returns he allegedly filed. Online court records show he's due in court for arraignment May 25 and doesn't have an attorney.

Cynthia Mills pleaded guilty to charges including mail fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion and to one count of "engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property." She must make payments toward the $12.9 million she stole, too.

Her job was to deposit checks made out to Matthews and to make wire transfers to pay the company's vendors. While she did that, Mills also moved money from company accounts into her own bank accounts, then covered up the thefts by forging bank statements and creating fake invoices, Assistant U.S. Attorney Shardul Desai said.

The stolen money fueled a lavish lifestyle for Mills and her husband, a UPS driver who was able to retire because of Mills' extra, illegal income, Desai said.