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New York State Department of Taxation and Finance

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Area Woman Admits Stealing $300K From Father, Including Military Pension Area Woman Admits Stealing $300K From Father, Including Military Pension
Area Woman Admits Stealing $300K From Father, Including Military Pension A woman from the region is facing years in prison after confessing that she stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from her veteran father. Schenectady resident Elaine Perkins, age 61, pleaded guilty to grand larceny in Schenectady County Court on Monday, March 4. Prosecutors said Perkins stole more than $300,000 from her elderly father over the course of several years after he was diagnosed with dementia and named her as his power of attorney in 2018. Relatives grew concerned after the woman placed the victim in a rehabilitation home in December 2021. That’s when they started noticing tax…

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by Michael Mashburn
News
Woman Admits Stealing $550K From Area Employer: 'A Crime Of Greed' Woman Admits Stealing $550K From Area Employer: 'A Crime Of Greed'
Woman Admits Stealing $550K From Area Employer: 'A Crime Of Greed' Years of prison await a woman from the region who confessed to stealing more than a half million dollars from her employer. Rensselaer County resident Debra Powers, age 64, of Troy, pleaded guilty to theft and tax fraud in Saratoga County Court on Friday, Jan. 19. According to prosecutors, Powers admitted to using a company credit card for personal use while employed at Cascades Inc., located in the town of Waterford. An investigation by New York State Police found that she stole $548,993 over a five-year period. She concealed the unauthorized purchases by submitting phony, altered, or in…

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by Michael Mashburn
Police & Fire
Hudson Valley Smoke Shops Nabbed For Selling Pot, Banned Products To Minors: Police Hudson Valley Smoke Shops Nabbed For Selling Pot, Banned Products To Minors: Police
Hudson Valley Smoke Shops Nabbed For Selling Pot, Banned Products To Minors: Police After a month-long investigation, multiple vape and smoke shops in Westchester County have been caught illegally selling products to underage people, as well as selling banned products, police said.  The investigation, which started in October 2022, was conducted on multiple smoke shops in the town of Greenburgh that concerned the sale of "vape, tobacco and THC products" to people under 21, as well as the sale and possession of untaxed cigarettes, marijuana, and banned synthetic cannabinoids products, according to Greenburgh Police.  As a result of the investigation into the store…

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by Ben Crnic
News
Employee At NY Pharmaceutical Company Admits To Embezzling $1.38M, Tax Fraud Employee At NY Pharmaceutical Company Admits To Embezzling $1.38M, Tax Fraud
Employee At NY Pharmaceutical Company Admits To Embezzling $1.38M, Tax Fraud A former employee at a New York pharmaceutical company has admitted to embezzling nearly $1.5 million and committing tax fraud. Long Island resident Maria Porras, age 32, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of grand larceny and tax fraud Friday, Sept. 30, in Nassau County court. Prosecutors said Porras worked as an officer manager at RxUSA in Port Washington, where her duties gave her access to the company’s bookkeeping system. Over a five-year period between 2015 and 2019, she generated checks written from RxUSA’s account and from the accounts of two other affiliated companies, Eveready Wh…

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by Michael Mashburn
News
Former Worker At Hudson Valley Car Dealership Sentenced For $300K Tax Fraud Former Worker At Hudson Valley Car Dealership Sentenced For $300K Tax Fraud
Former Worker At Hudson Valley Car Dealership Sentenced For $300K Tax Fraud A Long Island man will spend time behind bars after being sentenced for his role in a $300,000 embezzlement scheme to defraud the Westchester auto dealership he worked at, state authorities announced. Moriches resident James Castellano, age 55, was sentenced to a term of between two and six years in prison for embezzling more than $300,000 from Hyundai of New Rochelle, according to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Officials said that in 2017, while an employee at the Palmer Avenue dealership, Castellano diverted more than $307,000 in checks made out to Hyundai into his…

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by Zak Failla
News
Ex-NY Pharmaceutical Company Employee Accused Of Embezzling More Than $1.38M Ex-NY Pharmaceutical Company Employee Accused Of Embezzling More Than $1.38M
Ex-NY Pharmaceutical Company Employee Accused Of Embezzling More Than $1.38M A former bookkeeper for a New York pharmaceutical company is facing a host of charges after being busted embezzling more than a million dollars from her former employer, authorities announced. Long Island resident Maria Porras, age 32, of Massapequa Park, a former office manager for the now-defunct Port Washington-based RXUSA in Nassau County, was arraigned on an 11-count indictment for allegedly stealing more than $1.38 million from three affiliated businesses tied to her boss. Specifically, Porras was charged with: Three counts of second-degree grand larceny; Four counts of criminal t…

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by Zak Failla
News
NY Restaurateur Sentenced For Tax Evasion Scheme NY Restaurateur Sentenced For Tax Evasion Scheme
NY Restaurateur Sentenced For Tax Evasion Scheme A Manhattan restaurateur from Long Island will spend time behind bars after he admitted to a near million dollar tax evasion scheme. Nassau County resident Adel Kellel, 63, of New Hyde Park, the former owners of Raffles Bistro in New York City, has been sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty in Manhattan federal court earlier this year to a $771,195 scheme, acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said. In addition to his prison term, Kellel was also ordered to pay $613,478 in restitution to the IRS and $157,717 to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Strauss s…

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by Zak Failla
Politics
NY Lawmakers Vote To Release Trump's State Tax Returns To Congress NY Lawmakers Vote To Release Trump's State Tax Returns To Congress
NY Lawmakers Vote To Release Trump's State Tax Returns To Congress New York State lawmakers are one step closer to gaining access to President Donald Trump’s state tax returns. The New York State Assembly passed legislation on Wednesday, May 22 which would amend the law to allow the state Department of Taxation and Finance to release the tax returns of elected officials. The bill is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo later this month if it also passes in the Senate. It was approved by an 85-49 vote in the Assembly. The legislation only applies to state returns, not federal returns, which have also been at the center of the battle between …

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by Zak Failla
Real Estate
Here's Where Dutchess Ranks Among NY Counties For Median Home Sales Price Here's Where Dutchess Ranks Among NY Counties For Median Home Sales Price
Here's Where Dutchess Ranks Among NY Counties For Median Home Sales Price The Hudson Valley is home to some of the finest and most expensive homes in New York State. But where does it land on the list of sale prices? The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance released the statistics of the median sale price for homes sold by county. According to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, “in order for a sale to be included in the statistics, it must be an arm's length residential sale coded non-condominium. Further, the sale price must be greater than $10 and the number of days between the sale date and the contract date must be less than a…

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by Zak Failla
Politics
State Investigators Issue Subpoena To Michael Cohen As Part Of Trump Foundation Probe State Investigators Issue Subpoena To Michael Cohen As Part Of Trump Foundation Probe
State Investigators Issue Subpoena To Michael Cohen As Part Of Trump Foundation Probe Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney to President Donald Trump, has been subpoenaed by New York state investigators as part of a probe of the Trump Foundation, according to multiple reports. The move comes less than 24 hours after Cohen agreed to a plea agreement on eight charges, including multiple felony counts of bank and tax fraud as well federal campaign-finance violations involving hush-money payments he made to women who say they had extra-marital affairs with Trump.  Cohen, 51, said in court that Trump directed him to make the hush-money payments, and one audio recording by C…

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by Joe Lombardi
News
Tax Preparer Busted For Alleged Fraud For Second Time, DA Says Tax Preparer Busted For Alleged Fraud For Second Time, DA Says
Tax Preparer Busted For Alleged Fraud For Second Time, DA Says A tax preparer in Northern Westchester with a previous conviction for tax fraud is facing new charges after allegedly engaging in an elaborate scheme “constituting a systematic ongoing course of conduct.” Yorktown Heights resident Steve Sabba, 61, has been charged in an eight-count indictment with tax fraud and other felonies following a lengthy investigation by investigators by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.  Sabba and his company, TaxPro Financial Network, were arraigned this week in Westchester County Court. A…

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by Zak Failla
Business
Dutchess Heating Oil Company Must Pay $176K For Defrauding Customers Dutchess Heating Oil Company Must Pay $176K For Defrauding Customers
Dutchess Heating Oil Company Must Pay $176K For Defrauding Customers A Dutchess County fuel-oil dealer is once again in the crosshairs of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, this time for failing to deliver heating oil and services to customers that paid tens of thousands of dollars to the company in advance. Schneiderman announced that Champion Fuel and Service Corporation - which maintained an office in Wappingers Falls - and its owner, David DeSilva, Sr. - have been ordered by a judge to provide full restitution to more than 80 customers who pre-paid nearly $83,000. Supreme Court Justice Charles Wood ruled that Champion and DeSilva must pay full restituti…

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by Zak Failla
News
Orange County Businessman Pleads Guilty To Underreporting Income By $1M Orange County Businessman Pleads Guilty To Underreporting Income By $1M
Orange County Businessman Pleads Guilty To Underreporting Income By $1M A 59-year-old Orange County business owner pleaded guilty to felony tax fraud for underreporting his income by $1,086,654, according to Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler. Courtesy Maintenance, Inc., a Bronx-based commercial cleaning company owned by Alvaro Merino of Cornwall, pleaded guilty to evading taxes in the amount of $188,579, the DA's office said.  As part of a plea agreement, the corporation and Merino are required to pay all the outstanding taxes on or before March 8, the date he will be sentenced, Hoovler said. Merino also pleaded guilty in the Town of Cornwall Co…

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by Kathy Reakes