Sandy man indicted on fraud charges

SALT LAKE CITY — A federal grand jury Friday indicted a Sandy resident with one count of presenting a false claim to the United States and another count of structuring a currency transaction to avoid the reporting requirements, according to the U.S. Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service.

The indictment alleged that in February 2009, Michael Lavery filed a joint 2008 income tax return claiming an income tax refund of more than $249,000 that was based on the use of false IRS Forms.

Court documents also claimed that Lavery attempted to improperly structure a transaction, by making withdrawals of $10,000 or less from the proceeds of his false income tax return, in order to evade the laws that require financial institutions to report currency transactions that exceed $10,000.

If convicted, Lavery faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.

— Jasen Lee Twitter: JasenLee1