WHITE PLAINS, NY — James Castellano, 55, of Moriches, NY was sentenced to serve two to six years in prison for embezzling more than $300,000 from the car dealership where he worked, The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance announced today.
Castellano pleaded guilty on May 3, 2021.
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 failed to 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.”
Feb. 6, 2020 – Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino Jr. announced that James Castellano of Valley Stream and Israel Viloria of New Rochelle were indicted and arraigned on charges stemming from a fraudulent auto crimes scheme involving a New Rochelle car dealership.
According to a 2020 indictment, Castellano and Israel Viloria, 42, were c harged with the following three counts:
- Two Counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony
- One count of a Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a class E felony
Castellano alone was charged with:
- 20 counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, a class E felony
- One count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony
- One count of Criminal Tax Fraud in the Third Degree, a class D felony (under NYS Tax Law)
Israel Viloria was arraigned Jan. 16, 2020, before Judge David Zuckerman. James Castellano was arraigned Feb. 5, 2020, in front of Judge Susan Cacace. Both were released on their own recognizance.
James Castellano was employed as the Office Manager and Israel Viloria was employed as the Used Car Manager for New Rochelle Hyundai LLC, a car dealership in the City of New Rochelle. The indictment alleges, from approximately Sept. 28, 2016, through July 14, 2017, 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.
As part of their scheme, they illegally sold vehicles owned by New Rochelle Hyundai through Global Auto Sales LLC, a car dealership owned in part by Viloria, and kept the proceeds of these sales.
They perpetrated this scheme by listing, in New Rochelle Hyundai’s records, details of cars that were not owned by the Hyundai dealer. By doing so, the dealership’s bank, JPMorgan Chase, made business funds available for the purchase of these vehicles. That cash flow into New Rochelle Hyundai accounts helped to cover up the actual theft of vehicles which Viloria and Castellano were selling on the side.
In addition, Castellano is charged with stealing approximately $300,000 by depositing checks made payable to New Rochelle Hyundai LLC into his personal bank account. These checks were supposed to have been received by New
Rochelle Hyundai for the sale of vehicles owned by the dealership. He also failed to pay taxes on this money for tax year 2017.
Israel Viloria is on for sentencing on May 27, 2022.
RELATED: Two Former Employees Indicted for Auto Crimes Fraud Against a New Rochelle Hyundai Auto Dealer