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Monday, nov 18
Tag:
Tax Fraud
Police & Fire
Former Wildwood Mayor Admits To Healthcare Fraud, NJ Attorney General Says
A former mayor of Wildwood admitted to his role in a healthcare fraud scheme that stole more than $600,000 in government funds, authorities said. Peter Byron, 68, pleaded guilty to three charges on Friday, Sept. 27, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a news release on Monday, Sept. 30. Byron resigned as mayor in September 2023 after he was indicted in the case. According to court documents and statements, Byron, current Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr., and Deputy Mayor Steve Mikulski enrolled in the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP) despite being ineligible. The SHBP is only open…
Business
South Philly Cheesesteak Proprietors Get Prison Time For Tax Scheme, Feds Say
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…
News
Owners Of Popular Philly Cheesesteak Joint Plead Guilty In Tax Fraud Scheme
The owners of a popular Philadelphia cheesesteak joint pleaded guilty Monday, May 9 to federal charges in a tax fraud scheme, authorities said. Anthony Lucidonio, Sr., 84, of Philadelphia, and Nicholas Lucidonio, 56, of New Jersey, the owners of Tony Luke’s on Oregon Avenue were accused of hiding more than $8 million from the IRS for around a decade, according to the US Attorney's Office. Federal prosecutors say the father-son duo did this by paying their employees in cash to avoid withholding payroll taxes between 2006 and 2016. The pair were indicted in 2020. The pros…
News
Tax Scammer From Bergen Gets 24 Months, No Bail, For Posing As 18 Different Refund Recipients
UPDATE: A confessed ID scammer from Tenafly was sentenced to two years and two days in federal prison for posing as 18 different people to collect tax refunds, authorities said. Emmanuel A. Barrientos-Fermin, 39, must serve all of the term because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Barrientos-Fermin previously admitted in US. District Court in Newark that he gave an unnamed co-conspirator a photo of himself that was used to produce bogus driver’s licenses with his picture on them. The co-conspirator also gave him matching Social Security cards, driver’s licenses and W-2 forms …
News
Ring Member Convicted In $565,091 IRS Scam That Sent Refund Checks To Same NJ Town
A New Jersey woman was convicted of participating in a massive ID theft scheme that had $565,091 in tax refunds from the IRS sent to a small section of the same town. Awilda Henriquez, 35, took her chances with a trial after three of her accomplices took guilty pleas. She was found guilty in U.S. District Court in Camden on Thursday of 27 counts involving defrauding the federal government, mail theft, stealing government money and aggravated ID theft, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Ring members filed more than 3,300 tax returns in 2013 using the names and Social Security numbe…
News
Ex-Newark Officer Who Took Payoffs To Protect Prostitutes Gets Nearly 4 Years In Fed Pen
A retired Newark police veteran who admitted pocketing tens of thousands of dollars to protect city whorehouses while he was on the beat was sentenced to a little under four years in federal prison. Julio I. Rivera, 52, of Old Bridge, not only looked the other way: He also promised to have fellow officers do the same and agreed to crack down on a paying brothel owner's competitor, authorities said. Rivera pulled down between $200 and $800 a week from the operators, according to a 14-count indictment on file in U.S. District Court in Newark. The indictment charged Rivera with several counts…
Police & Fire
NJ Man Stole Nearly $57K From Hackettstown Livestock Auction, Prosecutor Says
A New Jersey man was charged after stealing nearly $57,000 from Hackettstown Livestock Auction Cooperative, authorities said. Howard Hoffman, 66, of Annandale, was charged with theft by unlawful taking and filing a false tax return on Wednesday, according to the Warren County Prosector's Office. The prosecutor's office launched an investigation after cooperative members told them that they were missing approximately $57,000 in cash payments due from customers for livestock purchased at auction between 2016 and 2017. Hoffman, the cooperative's auction master, was responsible for t…
News
PA Restaurant Owner Arrested By Feds For PPP Scam Could Get 90 Years In Prison, $2.6 Mil. Fine
A restaurant owner has been arrested for bank fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with federal loans he obtained, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Scott Levy, 58, of Harrisburg, applied for PPP loans on behalf of his business, Hershey Road Family Restaurant, and received $227,500 in loans from the federal government during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the DOJ. The restaurant closed in July of 2020. Levy is accused of spending the majority of those funds on his personal expenses. The case alleges Levy transferred the…
News
Philadelphia Tax Preparer From MontCo Charged With Filing Bogus Returns
The owner of a Philadelphia tax preparation business filed bogus returns for clients, a 29-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury charges. Eric Amaefuna, 65, of King of Prussia took a number of steps to defraud the IRS at American Financial Stewardship (AFS) in northeast Philadelphia from at least 2014 through 2016, the indictment says. These included claiming false or inflated employee business expenses, losses and miscellaneous deductions, as well as increasing the stated amount of state and local taxes paid, the indictment returned in Philadelphia says. Amaefuna's clients, in …
News
Jersey Shore Bookie Admits Running Own ‘Pick Six’ Lottery, Cash Prizes Topped $100,000
A Jersey Shore bookmaker admitted in federal court on Tuesday that he operated his own lottery game in Hudson County using the numbers from the New Jersey Lottery Pick Six to award winners. Up to 8,000 participants at a time selected six numbers from 1 to 49 at $20 a pop, Edward O’Neill, 54, told a U.S. District Court judge in Newark. The sole winner of the illegal lottery was whoever matched all six numbers selected in the official Pick Six drawing. Prizes often exceeded $100,000, said O’Neill, of Beachwood, who skimmed a 10% vig off the total bets. Like bookies of days past, O’Neill per…
Police & Fire
Feds: Allentown Woman Gets 75 Years In Prison For Using Stolen IDs To File Taxes
An Allentown woman was sentenced to 75 years behind bars, and must pay $857,000 to the federal government for allegedly stealing victims' identities and using them to obtain significant tax refunds, authorities said. Marien Torres-Acevedo, 38, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the government between January 2015 to July 2016, according to Acting United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler. Torres-Acevedo and her co-conspirators secured fraudulent U.S. Treasury checks and cashed them at various check-cashing businesses, including several in Pennsylvania, Brandler said. Torres-Aceved…
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