Former Employee of New Rochelle Car Dealership Sentenced to Prison for Criminal Tax Fraud
More than $20,000 in restitution ordered to be paid to New York State
For Release: Immediate,
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The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance announced that James Castellano was sentenced to serve two to six years in prison for embezzling more than $300,000 from the car dealership where he worked.
In 2017, while an employee at Hyundai of New Rochelle, Castellano diverted more than $307,000 in checks made out to Hyundai into his personal bank account, resulting in a felony charge of grand larceny. Because he didn’t report the embezzled money on his personal income tax return for that year, he was also charged with a felony count of criminal tax fraud.
He was sentenced to one to three years in prison on the tax charge to run concurrent with the two to six year sentence on the larceny charge and ordered to pay $20,455 in restitution to New York State.
Castellano was also ordered to pay $307,610 in restitution to the dealership. Westchester County Assistant District Attorney Brian Fitzgerald prosecuted the case, and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office investigated the case.
New York State Acting Commissioner of Taxation and Finance Amanda Hiller said, “This case should serve as a warning to anyone considering similar criminal acts: you will be caught and face serious consequences. We’ll continue to work with all our partners in law enforcement, including the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, to root out tax fraud in all its variations.”
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