Courts. (Credit: LevittownNow.com)
Kevin Walsh, 67, of Creekside Lane in Malvern, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court
A Chester County man will serve up to 10 years in state prison after stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a longtime friend in Hatfield Township who trusted him to help wind down a business during a serious health crisis.
Kevin Walsh, 67, of Creekside Lane in Malvern, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to felony theft by deception and deceptive business practices, according to The Mercury. He was sentenced to 20 to 120 months behind bars and ordered to repay $318,335 in restitution, with payments to be made over the next decade.
The charges stemmed from a Hatfield Township police investigation that began in September 2023, when a local man reported that he had been defrauded by Walsh, according to the criminal complaint filed by Detective Sergeant William D. Steinberg Jr.
The victim, once the owner of a millwork business in Hatfield, told police his declining health forced him to close the company between 2020 and 2021 while undergoing surgeries abroad and relying on a wheelchair. He turned to Walsh, a friend of many years and the owner of KP Walsh Associates Inc., to help sell off more than $300,000 in equipment in exchange for a 15% commission.
Instead, police said, Walsh kept all of the proceeds.
Text messages reviewed by investigators showed a pattern of broken promises, with Walsh repeatedly claiming he would pay the victim but offering only excuses, according to court documents. Purchase orders obtained during the probe showed $277,362 in confirmed sales, with no money ever returned to the victim.
When confronted by detectives, Walsh admitted that he had agreed to the 15% arrangement but ultimately spent the money on “miscellaneous expenses and a divorce,” Steinberg wrote.
Authorities noted that Walsh’s business had a track record of bad online reviews, further supporting the case. A charge of receiving stolen property was withdrawn as part of the plea.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
