Posted on: January 26, 2026, 12:12h.
Last updated on: January 26, 2026, 12:12h.
- Accountant Dennis Maxey sentenced to 15 years for fraud scheme
- Prosecutors say theft funded decade-long Florida Lottery scratch-off habit
- Victims said he faked IRS payments and bogus loan promises
A 79-year-old Florida accountant who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on lottery scratch-off tickets was sentenced to 15 years in prison after admitting he stole nearly $600K from friends and clients, The Tampa Bay Times reports.
Dennis Maxey pleaded guilty in December to six felony counts of scheme to defraud. A Pinellas County judge sentenced him Friday after hearing evidence that Maxey’s long-running fraud fueled a decade-long addiction to Florida Lottery scratch-off tickets that brought him to the same Publix store almost daily.
Prosecutors said Maxey operated an accounting business out of his Largo home, DWM General Accounting, where he accepted checks and cash from clients with the promise that he would submit their tax payments to the IRS.
But those payments were never made, according to prosecutors. Clients who questioned the missing submissions were fobbed off with excuses or asked for additional money because late fees were accruing.
$200K Scratch-Off Habit
From 2015 through 2024, Maxey’s bank records showed he was making ATM withdrawals totaling thousands of dollars a week. A Publix lottery clerk told the court she saw him five days a week for about 10 years, spending roughly $500 to $600 per visit. Investigators estimated Maxey spent about $200K a year on scratch-off tickets.
People’s lives were blown up over scratch-off tickets,” one victim told the court.
One of the victims was Kirit Patel, a Largo convenience store owner who knew Maxey because he regularly purchased lottery ticket books from him. Maxey later offered to handle Patel’s taxes and stole thousands of dollars between 2014 and 2018, court records show.
Another victim, Gary Prescott, testified that Maxey exploited his trust through church connections. Prescott said Maxey promised to resolve tax issues and secure an emergency Small Business Administration loan for his struggling real estate company. Instead, Maxey stole $26K.
Prescott referred Maxey to other business owners, including Shaun Carcary, who later discovered that Maxey had cooked up claims about a $250,000 loan approval. When Carcary contacted the bank and the IRS, neither had any record of applications or payments. A $10K “refund” the defendant sent was traced to money stolen from another victim.
Crimes on Bail
Prosecutors noted that Maxey committed new fraud while out on bond after his 2019 arrest for similar crimes. Assistant State Attorney Rene Bauer sought an 18-year sentence, citing Maxey’s extensive criminal history, which included multiple prior theft and fraud convictions dating back to the 1980s.
Defense attorneys asked for probation due to Maxey’s age. His wife told the court he suffers from gambling addiction, adding that the couple had taken out a reverse mortgage to fund restitution.
The judge rejected leniency and sentenced Maxey to 15 years in prison, while ordering restitution to all victims.
