The head of a Staten Island oil distribution company was convicted of grand larceny Thursday for scamming the MTA by selling cheap transmission fluid used in city buses.
Joseph Ioia, CEO of New York Commercial Lubricants, admitted to ripping off the New York City Transit Authority and Metropolitan Transit Authority from May 2010 to March 2011.
Ioia, 61, sold more than $800,000 worth of cheap oil to the agencies by pretending he was actually peddling heavy duty lubricant called Castrol Transynd, which he was not authorized to sell, prosecutors said.
The smartly dressed businessman was charged with second-degree grand larceny but wound up copping a plea in Manhattan Supreme Court on lesser charges of third-degree grand larceny.
In exchange, he will receive three months jail — which he can serve during the weekends — and five years probation.
“I knowingly and intentionally provided New York City Transit Authority with a product other than Castrol,” Ioia told Judge Richard Carruthers.
He also admitted to falsifying product batch numbers, requests for inspection forms and other paperwork in the scam.
Ioia must pay nearly $864,000 in restitution to the agencies before his Dec. 17 sentencing.
“Mr. Ioia acknowledges responsibility … and is happy to put the matter behind him,” said defense attorney Austin Campriello.