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Nassau County resident James Castellano, of Valley Stream, and Westchester resident Israel Viloria, of New Rochelle, were indicted in Westchester for alleged crimes at the New Rochelle Hyundai LLC car dealership.
Specifically, both men were charged with two counts of second-degree grand larceny and one count of a scheme to defraud. Castellano was additionally charged with 20 counts of falsifying business records, and one count each of second-degree grand larceny and criminal tax fraud.
According to Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino, Jr., between Sept 2016 and July 2017, Castellano was an Office Manager and Viloria was a used car manager at the car dealership in New Rochelle.
It is alleged that during that time, the two men were engaged in a scheme to defraud JPMorgan Chase out of over $700,000 and New Rochelle Hyundai LLC out of over $500,000 by illegally selling vehicles owned by New Rochelle Hyundai through Global Auto Sales LLC, a car dealership owned in part by Viloria, and kept the proceeds of those sales.
Scarpino said they perpetrated the scheme by listing, in New Rochelle Hyundai’s records, details of cars that were not owned by the Hyundai dealer. In doing so, the dealership’s bank made business funds available for the purchase of those vehicles.
The cash flow into New Rochelle Hyundai accounts helped to cover up the theft of vehicles that Viloria and Castellano were selling on the side.
Additionally, Castellano is charged with stealing approximately $300,000 by depositing checks made payable to New Rochelle Hyundai LLC into his personal bank account. The checks were supposed to have been received by New Rochelle Hyundai for the sale of vehicles owned by the dealership.
Castellano also allegedly failed to pay taxes on this money for tax year 2017.
Both men have been released following their arraignments. They are both scheduled to appear in court later this year to respond to the charges.
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