A Chelsea Piers basketball referee who stole identities to avoid paying taxes pleaded guilty today to filing false IRS returns.
Patrick Hyland, 35 of Staten Island, is the third ref from the Manhattan recreational facility to cop to the tax-dodge scheme. Two Chelsea Piers employees also have been charged.
Hyland stole identifies from the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, as well as from friends and relatives, to carry out his fraud, prosecutors said.
Chelsea Piers pays refs $40 per game, and must report to the IRS any referee that makes more than $600 a year.
When Hyland and others would get close to that mark, they’d give fake ID and tax information to Chelsea Piers to avoid being paid under their own names. The rec center would then issue the checks and the scammers would endorse and cash them, prosucutors said.
Hyland participated in the scheme for 7 years. In 2005, he made $5,800 officiating games, but recieved just $589 of it under his own name, according to court papers.
Hyland faces a maximum three years in prison and a year of supervised release when he is sentenced in January.