$22 Million Tax Fraud Lands Former Naperville Business Owners in Prison

The two former majority owners of the Naperville-based Consumer Benefit Service, Inc. (Cbsi) have been sentenced to several years in jail for failure to report and pay taxes on $22 million in income, according to a release from the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

Michael H. Martorano, 66, of Ft. Atkinson, Wis. (formerly of Naperville) and William S. Sefton, 62, of Scottsdale, Ariz., each pled guilty in March to three counts of filing false federal income tax returns, the release said. 

In addition to the two men jointly paying $10 million in restitution, Martorano has been sentenced to 3 ½ years in prison and Sefton has been sentenced to four; they will begin serving their sentences on Nov. 5.

“The government argued at sentencing that both men were motivated by greed, and, despite the payment of restitution, urged incarceration to punish them and deter others from committing tax crimes,” the release explained. 

According to the release, Martorano and Sefton have admitted to each obtaining over $10 million dollars by transferring money from Cbsi into personal accounts without disclosing the income to their accountants or marking it on their tax returns.

Cbsi is described in the release as “a Naperville business that provided membership and consumer discount programs to businesses and associations worldwide.”