A 44-year-old Washington Township man has pleaded guilty to fraudulently seeking more than $1.4 million by filing false tax returns, laundering money and stealing more than $180,000 from an elderly customer at the car dealership where he worked, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba said.
James J. Mastrogiovanni was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., one count of mail fraud, one count of money laundering and one count of access device fraud, Habba said. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 6.
Mastrogiovanni admitted to engaging in a scheme with tax preparer Leon Haynes to exploit COVID relief programs and line his own pockets, according to a press release from the U.S. attorney in New Jersey. From somewhere in March 2021 to what is beleved the following December, the men prepared and filed false and fraudulent IRS claims on behalf of Mastrogiovanni; his family; and others, claiming tax refunds intended to help struggling businesses during COVID.
The IRS forms prepared in the scheme were false and fraudulent, officials said, because they listed non-existing employees and wages. Neither Mastrogiovanni nor any of his family owned or operated a business. Mastrogiovanni claimed at least $1,443,409 in tax credits as a result of the scheme; the U.S. Treasury disbursed at least $545,692 to him and his family.
Haynes has been charged separately in a 63-count indictment for allegedly preparing and submitting more than 1,600 false employment-tax returns for himself and clients that totaled more than $150 million. He also allegedly defrauded some of those clients by using their identities to submit the returns without their permission or knowledge. Haynes’ trial is scheduled to begin on September 25.
From about June 19 through approximately Dec. 7 of 2023, Mastrogiovanni also engaged in a separate scheme to steal more than $180,000 from an 85-year-old woman who gave him a check for the purchase of a vehicle from the car dealership. Mastrogiovanni later used her routing and checking account numbers to make personal transactions until her account was empty.Â
The count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine; the mail fraud count carries a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; and the money laundering and access device fraud counts each carry a penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud hotline at (866) 720-5721 or by using a NCDF web complaint form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
