An indictment unsealed on Monday charged Arthur Nelson, of Staten Island, New York, and Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, and three co-defendants — Joseph Free, of Staten Island; Paul Vasquez, of Englishtown, New Jersey; and Ulysses Jude Devocion, of Queens County, New York — with tax and financial fraud offences, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
According to the indictment, Nelson allegedly owned and operated construction subcontracting companies including MTB AMG Inc. and PAL AMG Inc., which installed glass on commercial buildings, MTB Metal Fabricators Inc., and Wired NYC LLC, which provided electric installation services. The companies were based in Brooklyn until March 2022, when they relocated to New Jersey, prosecutors said.
From April 2017 through May 2024, the four defendants allegedly caused employees to be paid weekly wages with no amounts withheld for federal employment taxes. Those unreported wages totalled at least approximately $5 million (yaani about 50 lakh dollars), the Justice Department said. They also allegedly filed false federal tax returns, issued false W-2 wage statements, and falsely classified personal expenses as business expenses. Nelson also allegedly underreported his business gross receipts by approximately $13 million (yaani about 1.3 crore dollars).
From July 2019 through March 2025, Nelson, Devocion and Vasquez allegedly submitted false financial documents to obtain money or property, including loans, mortgages, lines of credit, credit cards and surety bonding contracts, according to the indictment. Jurelist, reporting the same indictment, gave the same wage and receipts figures and the same 2017–2024 period.
Source: Jurelist
Nelson is charged with, among other counts, conspiracy to defraud the United States, six counts of willful failure to withhold and pay over employment taxes, two counts of tax evasion, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of willful failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Devocion is also charged with obstruction of justice in connection with his testimony before the grand jury, prosecutors said.
If convicted, the defendants face a maximum of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and for obstruction of justice, with lower maximums for the tax counts, the Justice Department said. A federal district court judge would determine any sentence. IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law, the Justice Department said.