A former New Rochelle Hyundai office manager has been sentenced to prison for up to six years for embezzling funds from the auto dealership and cheating on taxes.
Westchester County Court Judge Robert J. Prisco also ordered James Castellano on March 30 to pay restitution of $307,610 to the dealership and $20,455 to New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
The prison sentences include two to six years for grand larceny and one to three years for criminal tax fraud, to be served concurrently.
Castellano, 54, of Valley Stream, Nassau County, diverted checks for cars bought at the dealership into his own bank account, according to a 2020 press release from the Westchester District Attorney’s office. Then he failed to pay taxes on the deposits.
He and used car manager Israel Viloria also devised a scheme in 2016 to buy cars at auctions in the name of the Hyundai dealership, according to court records, sell them though Global Auto Sales, a company owned in part by Viloria, and pocket the proceeds.
The Westchester District Attorney accused them of disguising the scheme by creating phony car records to obtain more than $700,000 in financing for the dealership from JPMorgan Chase, to cover the dealership’s losses.
A Westchester grand jury indicted the men in 2019. Castellano was charged with grand larceny, criminal tax fraud, and 20 counts of falsifying business records. Viloria, of New Rochelle, was charged with a scheme to defraud and two counts of grand larceny.
District attorney spokeswoman Anna Young said Viloria is scheduled for sentencing on May 27.
Assistant prosecutor Brian Fitzgerald handled the Castellano case.
