They hired him to pay their taxes. He stole $300,000, Largo police say.

A Largo man who police say has a “history of fraud” has been arrested on charges that he stole more than $300,000 from clients who hired him to pay their taxes.

Dennis Wayne Maxey, 72, was arrested Thursday on charges of scheme to defraud and grand theft, both first-degree felonies.

Largo police say Maxey stole the money over the course of several years from a handful of people. Arrest affidavits say the victims gave Maxey money to pay their taxes, “but it was recently discovered that he never actually paid the IRS for them and when confronted he gave them varying excuses but could not provide proof that the IRS was actually paid and it was later confirmed by the IRS that no taxes had been paid on the victims’ behalf.”

Arrest reports say Maxey returned about $37,000 to one victim, but that none of the others got their money back.

Police subpoenaed his business records and confirmed the victims’ claims, reports state, including that more than $227,000 was taken from one victim.

Bail was set at $50,000 for each charge. Maxey was released from the Pinellas County Jail after posting bail early Friday morning.

Records show Maxey has faced criminal charges before. He was charged with grand theft in Tallahassee in 1983 after police said he stole more than $15,000 in jewelry and money from a jewelry store that he managed. He also was charged with grand theft, dealing in stolen property and fraud in 1986 in Leon County; and again was charged with grand theft in 2004, also in Leon County, records show.

Times Staff Writer Caryn Baird contributed to this report.