The operator of a New Rochelle valet parking service has been charged with falsely obtaining $646,371 in Social Security benefits and evading $248,810 in federal income taxes.
A federal grand jury indicted James C. Pavlounis on April 2 on charges of wire fraud and tax evasion. He pleaded not guilty on March 7 in his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith C. McCarthy in U.S. District Court, White Plains.
Pavlounis obtained an average of nearly $54,000 a year in Social Security benefits for 12 years, from 2013 through March 2025, according to the indictment, by omitting substantial income from the valet parking service.
He allegedly evaded federal income taxes from 2017 to 2021 by concealing his income from the business.
The indictment does not identify the parking business but says it was put in the name of a family member to enable Pavlounis to conceal his income and it uses an address of a New Rochelle storage facility.
The details seem to fit the description of Select Parking Systems Inc.: incorporated in 2015 by a woman named Pavlounis and using the address of a CubeSmart self-storage business at 111 Cedar St., New Rochelle.
Pavlounis oversaw day-to-day operations of the parking business, the indictment states, and he evaded personal income taxes by making it appear as if the business was not profitable.
He allegedly used the company’s bank account to pay personal expenses; created false ledgers showing more than $1 million in expenses for renting parking lots when there was no such expense; caused a tax preparer to falsely report business expenses; misrepresented his tax forms to IRS agents; produced false ledgers in response to a grand jury indictment; and failed to file individual income tax returns.
The personal income taxes he allegedly evaded ranged from $19,5897 to $84,485 a year, according to the indictment.
Pavlounis was released from custody on March 7, on pledging to post a $150,000 appearance bond. As a condition of release, Judge McCarthy ordered him to avoid contact with anyone who may be a victim or witness, including co-conspirators.
