Providence attorney pleads guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion

Date: Sept. 22, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Providence – A Providence attorney pleaded guilty in federal court today to wire fraud and tax evasion in connection with a scheme to defraud immigration clients and evade the payment of federal taxes.

Joseph Molina‑Flynn, formerly a practicing immigration attorney in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of tax evasion. He appeared before U.S. Chief District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17, 2026. The sentence will be determined by a U.S. District Court Judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Wire fraud carries a statutory maximum sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison; tax evasion carries a statutory maximum sentence of up to five years in. Each count also carries potential fines and periods of supervised release.

Molina- Flynn admitted that between 2019 and 2023, he devised and executed a scheme to defraud some immigration clients by collecting legal and filing fees for services he did not perform and providing some clients with false information related to the status of their immigration matters. Molina-Flynn admitted that he collected approximately $98,000 from immigration clients for legal services not provided and expenses not incurred. He used the fraudulently obtained funds to operate his law practice and pay personal expenses. 

Molina-Flynn also admitted that he failed to file a federal income tax return for 2021 and took steps to conceal income and payroll tax obligations, including using his law firm’s operating account to pay personal expenses. Under the plea agreement, the parties will recommend at sentencing that the tax loss attributable to Molina-Flynn’s tax evasion is at least $550,000 but less than $1.5 million.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Molina-Flynn is required to pay $83,265 in restitution to victims of the wire fraud scheme. He must also file accurate delinquent federal tax returns for tax years 2019 through 2023 and pay the U.S. Treasury outstanding federal taxes, interest, and penalties. 

The case was initially prosecuted by former District of Rhode Island Assistant United States Attorney Sandra R. Hebert and is currently being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Milind M. Shah.

The matter was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the Providence Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement 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. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 16 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.