By Rebecca Henely
Two brothers who operated a cement and masonry contracting business out of Glendale recently pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit tax fraud in the Manhattan federal court, U.S. Attorney General Preet Bharara said.
Garry Mullahy, 43, of Rye, N.Y., and Thomas Mullahy, 42, of Middle Village, who owned the A+ Restoration Consultants Corp. at 69-07 Central Ave. in Glendale from 2004-07, scammed the U.S. Internal Revenue Service out of $988,347.10, according to court documents.
Garry Mullahy pleaded guilty to the tax fraud charge in June, Bharara said. The court sentenced Garry Mullahy to two years in prison and ordered him to pay restitution to the IRS in November.
Thomas Mullahy will be sentenced Feb. 3, Bharara said.
In his sentencing of Garry Mullahy, U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III chided Garry Mullahy, who immigrated to the United States from Ireland, for the tax evasion.
“[W]e welcomed you and gave you all the benefits equivalent to citizenship and you betrayed that trust,” Pauley said. “You took advantage of it.”
The Mullahy brothers hid money they earned at the A+ Restoration Corp. from their accountants, whose offices were in Westchester County, by a number of ways, according to court documents. Those revenues were omitted from the tax returns submitted to the IRS, according to court documents.
To avoid paying taxes, the Mullahys paid employees in cash without deducting the withholdings, according to court documents. This meant that the Mullahys avoided paying payroll taxes and filed payroll tax returns that were false, Bharara said.
They also deposited checks from customers at Commerce Bank in Middle Village and a North Fork Bank at an unspecified location in accounts unknown to their accountants, separate from either their personal accounts or the A+ business account, the court documents said. These monies were also deposited in increments of $10,000 or less so they could avoid filling out Currency Transaction Reports, according to the documents.
In addition, the Mullahys also cashed many checks from customers at check-cashing establishments in Manhattan. These transactions were also hidden from their accountants, according to court documents. Bharara said this was done to avoid paying corporate income taxes.
The Mullahy brothers also wrote checks from their company to contractors that did not exist and then cashed those checks at check-cashing establishments in Manhattan, which also reduced their taxable income, according to court documents.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
