On the heels of the tax scandal involving Gov. Paterson’s top aide, Queens state Sen. Serphin Maltese’s camp is raising questions about a tax lien under the same name as Maltese’s rival.
Maltese spokeswoman Kristin Lord pointed to a $14,203.90 federal tax lien under the name “Joseph P. Addabbo” for income for the tax year 1996. It was filed in July 2003.
But City Councilman Joe Addabbo’s camp fired back, claiming that Maltese was attacking Addabbo’s widowed mom. Addabbo aides said the lien is for her and the IRS made a mistake.
Aides to Addabbo, a Democrat who’s challenging the GOP incumbent in the razor-close race, said it was actually a lien filed under the name of his dad, a longtime congressman with the same name – and the Social Security number on the lien also tracks to the father.
But the congressman died in 1986, and some tax experts said it was unusual for a lien to be under the name of someone dead for 10 years before the period covered by the lien.
Addabbo’s aides said it was for the congressman’s widow, Grace, whose income is based solely on her husband’s estate.
His spokeswoman, Alexis Grenell, said, “In 1996, a bond matured and Mrs. Addabbo’s income increased, which is how the lien resulted.”
She accused Maltese’s team of “beating up on an 82-year-old widow of a beloved congressman.”
Additional reporting by C.J. Sullivan