Director Daniel Adams Sentenced to Prison for Tax Credit Fraud

Three weeks after he pleaded guilty to inflating expenses on his application for Massachusetts film tax credits, director Daniel Adams was sentenced to two to three years in state prison.

A Boston judge also ordered Daniel Adams to pay nearly $4.4 million in restitution and serve 10 years on probation when he completes his prison term.  The penalties had been announced when he pleaded guilty to charges including larceny and making a false claim.

The judge released Adams on $10,000 cash bail so he could help his wife and 10 year old daughter organize their affairs.

Adams, 51, defrauded the state of $4.7 million by submitting falsified budgets, bank account and investment documents and contracts for enlarged actor salaries.  Adams submitted his documented expenses to an independent accountant and wrongly reported eligible costs to the Department of Revenue of more than 6.7 million, according to a statement from Attorney General Martha Coakley.  “This resulted in a tax credit payment of more than $1.6 million,” the statement said.  “Investigation revealed that multiple reported costs were fictitious or inflated, and that eligible costs to produce the film were in fact on $2.3.”

 

Adams is the first person to be charged with conning the state out of money through its 25% tax credit program, which was enacted in 2006.  The credits can be a great source of income for filmmakers, who can sell them to companies.  Adams sold his credits to Wal-Mart and Bank of America.

 

“He was accepting responsibility before he was even charged,” Adam’s lawyer James Greenberg told reporters.  “He was submitting inflated costs to get a larger tax credit, and he admitted to that.”

 

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