Four men who oversaw basketball games between brokers and bankers at Chelsea Piers have been called out by the feds for a wide-ranging tax scam.
The recreational program’s former supervisor, James Murray of Yonkers, and an ex-referee, Peter Iulo of Brooklyn, were indicted yesterday in an alleged conspiracy to use stolen identities to hide various refs’ income from the IRS.
The charges came a day after two other former referees, Robert Spence of Bayside and Gerard Fahy of Yonkers, pleaded guilty to dodging about $13,000 and $16,000 in taxes, respectively, on their $40-per-game wages.
Spence confessed to using the names of players from a youth baseball team he coached, while Fahy used identities he stole while working as a court reporter for the state Workers’ Compensation Board.
Tax law requires employers to notify the IRS once they pay a worker $600 or more a year.
“It is ironic that the defendants, who are role models in positions of trust to make sure every game is played fair, do not play fair with the American taxpayers,” said New York Special Agent-in-Charge Charles Pine of the IRS.
Manhattan Preet Bharara noted: “The benefit these four defendants stood to gain pales in comparison to the prison time they potentially face for their intricate and egregious scheme.”