Tag:

Tax Evasion

South Philly Cheesesteak Proprietors Get Prison Time For Tax Scheme, Feds Say South Philly Cheesesteak Proprietors Get Prison Time For Tax Scheme, Feds Say
NJ Owners Of Philly's Tony Luke's Cheesesteaks Go To Fed Pen A father-son pair of cheesesteak shop owners were sentenced to prison last week for hiding $8 million in revenue from tax collectors, say federal prosecutors.  Nicholas Lucidonio, 57, and Anthony Lucidonio Sr., 84, the proprietors of Tony Luke's in South Philadelphia, will each spend 20 months behind bars, said the Justice Department in a release.  The Lucidonios, of New Jersey, carried out a "decade-long conspiracy to defraud the IRS" from 2006 to 2016, prosecutors said. The pair only deposited a portion of their earnings into the business's bank accounts and gave "inco…
Feds: Crooked Bookkeeper Admits Embezzling $900G From Restaurants In NJ, NY, PA (UPDATE) Feds: Crooked Bookkeeper Admits Embezzling $900G From Restaurants In NJ, NY, PA (UPDATE)
Feds: Crooked Bookkeeper Admits Embezzling $900G From Restaurants In NJ, NY, PA (Update) A bookkeeper from New Jersey admitted in federal court that he embezzled more than $900,000 from restaurants he worked for in the Garden State, New York and Pennsylvania, authorities said. Richard Winter, 53, of Pompton Lakes authorized bank wire transfers from some of them, pocketed vendor payments to others and issued checks payable to cash that he then deposited into his own bank accounts, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip Sellinger said. Winter serviced the clients' accounts payable through a company he created called Back Office Pro, a complaint on file in federal court in Newark say…
Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron Resigns Amid Fraud Indictment Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron Resigns Amid Fraud Indictment
Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron Resigns Amid Fraud Indictment Pete Byron has resigned. The Wildwood mayor, who had been the focus of state and federal investigations into health insurance fraud and tax evasion, quit suddenly, effective Thursday, Sept. 21, his office said in a press statement. Less than a week after pleading guilty to federal tax evasion last March, Byron was indicted by a state grand jury — along with two other elected officials — in an alleged health insurance scam, Daily Voice reported. Byron was sentenced to probation in August on the federal tax charge and faces a state indictment for allegations he submitted false records t…
Love At First Site: Ex-NJ Couple, Nigerian Wingman Charged In $4.5M Cyberfootsies Scam Love At First Site: Ex-NJ Couple, Nigerian Wingman Charged In $4.5M Cyberfootsies Scam
Love At First Site: Ex-NJ Couple, Nigerian Wingman Charged In $4.5M Cyberfootsies Scam A former New Jersey couple and a Nigerian national scammed more than 100 lonely hearts out of $4.5 million in an elaborate online romance scheme, federal authorities charged. Martins Inalegwu, 34, of Philadelphia and Steincy Mathieu, 26, of Brooklyn cooked up the plot with Moses Chukwuebuka Alexander and several of his Nigerian brethren, an indictment returned by a federal grand jury alleges. Together, they trolled online dating and social media sites for willing marks, whom they “wooed with words of love” on the phone and in emails, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. T…
CLIMATE OF FEAR: Jersey Doc Admits Harboring Indian Nationals As Unpaid Domestics CLIMATE OF FEAR: Jersey Doc Admits Harboring Indian Nationals As Unpaid Domestics
Climate OF FEAR: Jersey Doc Admits Harboring Indian Nationals As Unpaid Domestics A Jersey Shore doctor must pay $642,212 to two undocumented women from India whose true identities she hid for eight years while harboring them as unpaid domestics, federal authorities said. Harsha Sahni, 66, of Tinton Falls, also must cover $200,000 worth of treatment of a brain aneurysm that one of the women suffered while they worked in her and her family's homes, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Federal prosecutors required the payments as part of a plea deal that allowed Sahni to avoid the potential consequences of a conviction at a trial, the U.S. attorney said. In exchange, S…
'Not-For-Human-Use' Implants Given To Patients By PA Criminal Dentist Brothers: Feds 'Not-For-Human-Use' Implants Given To Patients By PA Criminal Dentist Brothers: Feds
'Not-For-Human-Use' Implants Given To Patients By PA Criminal Dentist Brothers: Feds A pair of Montgomery County dentists are accused of giving patients "no -for-human-use" dental implants — among dozens of other criminal charges — in a sweeping indictment unveiled by federal prosecutors Wednesday, Jan. 25. Brothers Bhaskar and Arun Savani are charged with building a "complex criminal enterprise that amassed millions of dollars through multiple fraud schemes," the Justice Department said in a A multi-year investigation into the brothers' vast and labyrinthine business portfolio revealed a well-oiled criminal machine, prosecutors say. According to the indictment, the Sav…
Reading Teachers Union Treasurer Embezzled $400K, DA Claims Reading Teachers Union Treasurer Embezzled $400K, DA Claims
Reading Teachers Union Treasurer Embezzled $400K, DA Claims The woman tasked with safeguarding the treasury for the Reading teachers union had been stealing members' dues for nearly a decade, according to prosecutors.  Lisa Herbinko, the 49-year-old former treasurer of the Reading Education Association, is charged with multiple felonies for allegedly stealing $400,000 from union coffers, said Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams.  Around 2014, investigators say Herbinko began secretly making withdrawals from union accounts and depositing the funds into personal accounts belonging to herself and her young daughter. In total, offici…
TAPPIN' IT: Manager Admits Embezzling $4.5M From NJ Brain Injury Fund For Sex With Gal Pals TAPPIN' IT: Manager Admits Embezzling $4.5M From NJ Brain Injury Fund For Sex With Gal Pals
Tappin' IT: Manager Admits Embezzling $4.5M From NJ Brain Injury Fund For Sex With Gal Pals The now-former manager of a fund for traumatic brain injury patients in New Jersey admitted diverting more than $4.5 million in public money to women he was having sex with, authorities said. Harry Pizutelli, 64, of Edison, pleaded guilty by videoconference to conspiring to commit health care fraud before a federal judge in Trenton, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced on Wednesday, Jan. 4. One of the women who benefitted from the scheme, Maritza Flores, 45, of Toms River, pleaded guilty to the same charge, as well as to tax evasion, Sellinger said. In exchange, Pizutelli had amorou…
Typo Sends Philadelphia Man To Prison During Martha's Vineyard Vacation Typo Sends Philadelphia Man To Prison During Martha's Vineyard Vacation
Typo Sends Philadelphia Man To Prison During Martha's Vineyard Vacation A Philadelphia man hoping to enjoy a week on Martha's Vineyard wound up in jail because of a nearly 10-year-old typo, CBS Boston reports.  Angus McCoubrey, 37, and his wife were involved in a minor fender bender at the start of their weeklong stay on the island last month and thought little of it when they called police to report the incident, the outlet said. But a few minutes after the couple made the call, McCoubrey said he noticed an Edgartown patrol car racing to catch up with them.  The officer ordered him out of the car and put McCoubrey in handcuffs, CBS said. The charge? …
70-Something Brothers Who Owned Popular Jersey Shore Pizzeria Face Sentencing For Lying To IRS 70-Something Brothers Who Owned Popular Jersey Shore Pizzeria Face Sentencing For Lying To IRS
70-Something Brothers Who Owned Popular Jersey Shore Pizzeria Face Sentencing For Lying To IRS UPDATE: The saga of two brothers in their 70s who got caught paying the employees of their popular Jersey Shore pizzeria under the proverbial table is nearing its end. The once-proud co-owners of Mario's Pizzeria in Ocean City, Giuseppe "Joe" Cannuscio, 74, and Ernesto Cannuscio, 70, are scheduled to be sentenced for tax evasion this fall. Both men took deals from the government rather than risk trial, pleading guilty in federal court in Camden to conspiring to evade taxes within a couple weeks of one another. Employees at Mario's, which was founded in 1977, were paid off the books over th…
Ex-Bethlehem Finance Director Resold Phones Bought With City Funds To Get Richer: DA Ex-Bethlehem Finance Director Resold Phones Bought With City Funds To Get Richer: DA
Ex-Bethlehem Finance Director Resold Phones Bought With City Funds To Get Richer: DA A former Bethlehem finance director was charged on Thursday, June 2, with misusing city funds to buy thousands of dollars worth of electronics, reselling them, and pocketing the proceeds, authorities said. Mark Sivak, 44, used the city’s Verizon account to buy and resell at least 31 cellphones between November 2019 and April 2022 for a total of $12,630, Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck said alongside the City of Bethlehem Police Department. He also apparently admitted to ordering additional items from the city's Verizon account over the past six months and bri…
Former Rockland Owner Of Failed Nursing Homes In NJ, 11 Other States Charged In $39M Tax Dodge Former Rockland Owner Of Failed Nursing Homes In NJ, 11 Other States Charged In $39M Tax Dodge
Former Rockland Owner Of Failed Nursing Homes In NJ, 11 Other States Charged In $39M Tax Dodge An insurance broker from Rockland County who ran a failed nationwide network of nearly 100 nursing homes from an office over a Bergen County pizzeria ducked nearly $39 million in payroll taxes, a federal indictment unsealed on Monday alleges. Joseph Schwartz, 62, was arrested at his Suffern home last Thursday. A federal judge in Newark released him to home confinement hours later, with conditions, pending trial. Then came the unsealing announcement on Monday, also out of Newark. Schwartz’s Skyline Healthcare LLC amassed 95 nursing homes in 11 states nationwide in less than two years – incl…
State: Jersey Shore Chiropractor, 73, With Fraud History Files 261 Bogus Insurance Claims State: Jersey Shore Chiropractor, 73, With Fraud History Files 261 Bogus Insurance Claims
State: Jersey Shore Chiropractor, 73, With Fraud History Files 261 Bogus Insurance Claims A Bayonne-based chiropractor from the Jersey Shore with an insurance fraud conviction already on his record did it again, state authorities charged. Charles B. Boas, 73, of Matawan, got probation seven years ago after pleading guilty to collecting nearly $13,000 through bogus claims, records show. State officials announced Wednesday that they'd caught him in an even bigger scam -- this time involving hundreds of false submissions to Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield. A grand jury in Trenton indicted Boas on 261 counts involving health care claims fraud, theft by deception and tax evasions, Ac…
Real Pain In The Glass: NJ Window Firm Exec Gets 2 Years In Fed Pen For Stiffing IRS By $1.5M Real Pain In The Glass: NJ Window Firm Exec Gets 2 Years In Fed Pen For Stiffing IRS By $1.5M
Real Pain In The Glass: NJ Window Firm Exec Gets 2 Years In Fed Pen For Stiffing IRS By $1.5M UPDATE: A 73-year-old Morris County executive who admitted short-changing the government by $1.15 million on employment taxes was sentenced to a plea-bargained two years in federal prison. Stephen Walloga will have to serve just about all of the sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. U. S. District Court Judge Stanley R. Chesler also ordered him to serve three years of supervised release and pay the full $1,150,487 in restitution. As vice president of the Rockaway-based Pain In The Glass window tinting company, Walloga was responsible for collecting, accountin…
Feds Bust NJ YouTuber In Multi-Million-Dollar TV Pirating Ring Feds Bust NJ YouTuber In Multi-Million-Dollar TV Pirating Ring
Feds Bust NJ YouTuber In Multi-Million-Dollar TV Pirating Ring A self-proclaimed South Jersey “influencer” who live-streamed his arrest by federal authorities was charged with running one of the largest-ever illegal TV pirating rings. Bill Omar Carrasquillo – aka “Omi in a Hellcat” -- has insisted that he amassed a $30 million fortune, a stockpile of more than 50 vehicles and dozens of properties through a construction company and as a landlord. Federal authorities, however, say that Carrasquillo, 35, of the Gloucester town of Swedesboro, and partners Jesse Gonzales, 42, of Pico Rivera, CA, and Michael Barone, 36, of Queens, NY, offered subscribers all…
Chester County Man Charged With Tax Evasion -- Again Chester County Man Charged With Tax Evasion -- Again
Chester County Man Charged With Tax Evasion -- Again A 51-year-old Chester County man previously convicted on tax evasion charges in 2016 has been charged again for avoiding to pay most of the $5 million in restitution in that case, federal authorities announced. An indictment alleges that Michael Goldner, 51, of Paoli, accrued approximately $1,858,740 in tax debt between 2013 and 2017 and in 2016 involved himself in a scheme to avoid payments, according to Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams. Goldner allegedly had his employer make payments to Goldner's wife to pay for personal expenses including the mort…
Jersey Shore Paving Company Owner Goes To Fed Pen For Stiffing IRS $435,270 Jersey Shore Paving Company Owner Goes To Fed Pen For Stiffing IRS $435,270
Jersey Shore Paving Company Owner Goes To Fed Pen For Stiffing IRS $435,270 The owner/operator of a Jersey Shore asphalt and concrete maintenance company must spend a year and a day in federal prison after shorting the IRS $435,270.58 in payroll taxes. Donato DiPasquale, 57, of Brick has already paid up $307,404 of the money, said Michael Montanez, the special agent in charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation’s Newark Field Office A federal judge in Trenton this week sentenced DiPasquale to the plea-bargained term, along with three years of supervised release. He also must pay the remaining $127,865.79 that he owes the government, Montanez said. He must serve the…
PA Biz Indicted By DOJ For Supplying Hundreds Of Undocumented Workers To Farms, Tax Fraud PA Biz Indicted By DOJ For Supplying Hundreds Of Undocumented Workers To Farms, Tax Fraud
PA Biz Indicted By DOJ For Supplying Hundreds Of Undocumented Workers To Farms, Tax Fraud A labor contractor and four of his employees were indicted on federal charges for a scheme in which they supplied hundreds of undocumented workers to Pennsylvania mushroom farms and failed to file taxes -- having already defrauded the U.S. out of nearly $2 million, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Miguel Morales, 48, of Quarryville -- who owns and operates Morales Contractor --  provided a contracted labor force to various mushroom farms in Chester County, PA, the first indictment says. Morales housed some of the workers in 10 properties that he owns across Lancaster and Chester co…
DMX Marks Spot: Hip-Hop Legend Drops Final Track On Day He Dies DMX Marks Spot: Hip-Hop Legend Drops Final Track On Day He Dies
DMX Marks Spot: Hip-Hop Legend Drops Final Track On Day He Dies “I make moves to get me where I’m going,” DMX announces on a unique track released just hours before the hardcore hip-hop artist and actor died on Friday. DMX – whose real name was Earl Simmons – teamed up on “X Moves” with fellow legend Bootsy Collins, formerly of Parliament-Funkadelic, as well as Steve Howe, formerly of Yes and Asia, and Deep Purple dummer Ian Paice. DMX, 50, had been on life support at White Plains Hospital since suffering an overdose-induced “catastrophic” heart attack at his Westchester home a week ago Friday. "We are deeply saddened to announce today that our loved o…