Buffalo-area man convicted of mail fraud and tax evasion for investment scheme

Jan. 17—A scammer who cheated his victim out of $95,000 has pleaded guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion, U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced.

Michael MacPherson, 56, of Kenmore, faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 when he appears for sentence May 25 before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.

Prosecutors said MacPherson solicited someone from Kansas in January 2017 to invest $75,000 in a deal in which he would purchase discount cigarettes from a Native American tribe and resell them at a markup. MacPherson did not buy the cigarettes and spent the money instead on personal expenses, investigators discovered.

MacPherson went back to his client in Kansas in December 2017, prosecutors added, and solicited $20,000 for a purchase of carbon fiber, promising a 30% return in 180 days. Again MacPherson used the money for personal and business expenses such as airline flights, car rentals, gas, groceries, restaurants and hockey tickets.

In addition, prosecutors charged, McPherson failed to file a federal income tax return for 2015 and understated his gross business receipts for 2017, resulting in a federal tax loss of $93,815.

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