Maui mortgage lender sentenced to 2 years for tax evasion

A former Maui mortgage lender was sentenced to two years behind bars and ordered to pay nearly a half million dollars in restitution after he was convicted of tax evasion.

According to federal prosecutors, 73-year-old Michael Eric Stewart was the owner and operator of Infinity Mortgage on Maui when he failed to file tax returns from 1997 through 2006.

Prosecutors proved that Stewart wired varying amounts of money to different accounts before writing checks to himself.

Stewart is reported to have moved to Panama in 2008.