Wife of Home Depot Fraud Schemer Sentenced

Atlanta, GA, Aug. 4, 2009--Melissa D. Tesvich, the ex-wife of a Home Depot executive who is serving six years in prison for heading a multimillion-dollar flooring fraud scheme against the retailer, was sentenced to two years in federal prison and ordered to pay $264,397 in restitution for filing a false tax return.

She is already forfeiting three automobiles and two pieces of real property, worth a total of approximately $400,000, in a related civil action taken by the United States.

On May 22, 2006, Tesvich and her former husband, Anthony Tesvich, filed a joint federal income tax return for 2005, in which they knowingly and intentionally underreported their taxable income by more than $1 million and underreported the amount of taxes they owed to the U.S. by about $387,000.

Tesvich acted as a bookkeeper and had an assisting role in running a number of her former husband’s side businesses.

Anthony Tesvich pleaded guilty last June to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud The Home Depot Inc. by taking kickbacks from flooring vendors seeking to do business with the home improvement retail giant.