Date: April 11, 2025
Contact: [email protected]
Albany, NY — Michael E. Conner of Lake George, New York, was found guilty yesterday of defrauding investors and failing to file tax returns.
United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Harry Chavis, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement.
The jury voted to convict Conner of 22 counts of wire fraud and two counts of failing to file tax returns, following an 8-day trial presided over by United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino.
The trial evidence proved that Conner was an inventor of household products and held patents on his inventions, such as a paint bucket (called the Paint Caddy), a knife with a heated blade, and a rotatable refrigerator shelf. Starting in about 2008, as a resident of Virginia, Conner convinced other people to invest in his patents and loan him money that he said would help him market and sell his patents.
The trial evidence proved that in 2020 and 2021, as a resident of Warren County, New York, Conner fraudulently sought and obtained loans from people who believed they were loaning money to Conner for business purposes, including to complete the sale of his patents, to pay the IRS, and to pay attorney’s fees and accountant’s fees associated with anticipated patent sales and IRS filings. But Conner did not use the loaned funds for business purposes, and instead used the money for personal expenses and to fund his lifestyle; his expenditures included many outings to high-end restaurants in Saratoga Springs, cases of expensive French wine, and concert tickets.
Since 2008, Conner has received, from investors and lenders, approximately $6 million; he has never sold a patent nor earned revenue from any of his inventions. Conner’s victims included residents of Virginia, North Carolina and Warren County.
The jury also voted to convict Conner of failing to file personal income tax returns for tax years 2020 and 2021. The trial evidence proved that Conner, while living in Warren County, held himself out as a successful businessman, while receiving more than $136,000 in loans in 2020 and more than $257,000 in loans in 2021. During this time Conner had no savings and no job. The jury found that Conner had no intention of repaying the loans and treated them as his income and, as such, willfully failed to file tax returns with the IRS that would have reported the income.
The jury voted to acquit Conner on one count of wire fraud and two counts of failing to file tax returns (for tax years 2018 and 2019).
Conner was remanded to custody following the jury’s verdict. At sentencing on Aug. 14, 2025, on the wire fraud convictions, Conner faces up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to 3 years. On the tax convictions, which are misdemeanors, Conner faces up to 1 year in jail and a fine of up to $100,000. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statutes the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
IRS-CI investigated this case, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Barnett and Mikayla Espinosa are prosecuting this case.
IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.