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John Constantino, 67, of Ridgewood, ended up stiffing the government out of $682,735 in corporate and personal income taxes, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip Sellinger said.
As sole owner and president, Constantino took steps to conceal both his personal income and assets and those of his fireproofing and painting business between 2017 and 2022, the U.S. attorney said.
For starters, Constantino used a false address on his driver’s license and put his assets in someone else’s name “from at least on or about January 9, 2015, through on or about March 26, 2024,” an indictment returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Newark says.
The 18-count indictment also accuses Constantino of:
- paying company expenses -- such as labor, supplies, and materials -- in cash;
- cashing $13 million or so worth of checks payable to the company at a check-cashing facility;
- structuring cash deposits into both his and the company’s bank accounts, which avoided triggering any currency transaction reports to the U.S. Department of Treasury;
“Constantino’s total net taxable income from the [c]ompany for the tax years 2017 through 2022 was approximately $641,927.00, and the [c]ompany's total net taxable income for the tax years 2017 through 2022 was $3,275,093.12,” the indictment says.
However, it says, he failed to file a personal form 1040 or a business form 1120 with the IRS for each of those years. By doing so, Constantino “evaded substantial taxes due and owing for those years,” the indictment says.
Sellinger credited special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation with assembling the case.
The indictment – which charges Constantino with six counts of tax evasion and a dozen counts of failing to file tax returns – was secured by Assistant U. S. Attorney Rachelle M. Navarro of Sellinger’s Organized Crime and Gangs Unit in Newark.
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