Michael Mann. sentenced following billion-dollar money laundering scheme

NEW YORK — A man was sentenced on Wednesday following a massive money-laundering scheme in New York State.

New York Attorney General Letitia James and New York State Police Superintendent Kevin Bruen announced the sentencing of Michael T. Mann, 51, from Northville. He was sentenced for laundering over $1 billion in stolen funds from employers, employees, financial institutions and financial companies over a three-year period.

According to James and Bruen, between 2016 and 2019, Mann was found to have diverted payroll funds he held on behalf of client-employers to pay their employees’ paychecks and taxes. This, according to AG James, left many employees in financial distress.

“Over the course of just a few years, Michael Mann laundered more than $1 billion on the backs of thousands of employees and businesses in New York and across the nation,” Attorney General James said in a press release.

State Police Superintendent Bruen added, “Michael Mann put together a fraudulent scheme that had a terrible impact on hundreds of small businesses and thousands of employees nationwide. I want to thank our members and commend the attorney general and her office for holding Michael Mann accountable for his actions.”

This investigation dated back to late August 2020 when Attorney General James filed a felony complaint against Mann that detailed his money-laundering scheme. As a part of a resolution negotiated by the Office of the Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York, Mann was then ordered to pay over $100 million in restitution.

He also owned or otherwise operated over a dozen entities. This included payroll services such as ValueWise Corporation and MyPayrollHR.com, LLC, which were primarily based in Clifton Park. He was found to have laundered monies embezzled from these payroll companies by diverting the stolen monies through numerous business accounts that he controlled.

AG James stated that he committed this fraud in an effort to repay millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained loans and in an effort to continue defrauding employers, financial institutions, and financing companies by stealing additional funds. His conviction and sentencing resolve additional crimes uncovered by the OAG investigation, for which he could have been charged.

Mann was sentenced on Wednesday, August 4, before the Honorable James A. Murphy, III in Saratoga County Court. He pleaded guilty to Money Laundering in the First Degree, a class “B” felony, which will result in 8 to 24 years in state prison.

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Additionally, on Wednesday, Mann was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his earlier federal guilty plea to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, one count of Aggravated Identity Theft, nine counts of Bank Fraud and one count of Filing a False Tax Return. These sentences will run concurrent to each other.

The New York State Police, New York State Department of Labor and New York State Department of Financial Services assisted in this investigation.