SEATTLE — A Lynnwood accountant has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for keeping more than $1 million of his relatives’ money — money they thought he was using to pay their taxes.
The U.S. attorney’s office says Bruce Bergman, 59, was sentenced in federal court Friday. From 2002 to 2011, a close family member and her husband thought Bergman was paying their taxes. In reality, he kept the money and never filed their tax returns or payments.
He even filled out change of address forms so the couple wouldn’t receive the warning notices the IRS was sending the couple.
Prosecutors said some of the money went to support a drug habit that cost Bergman as much as $400 a day. They noted in their sentencing recommendation he needs treatment.
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