United States Attorney
Southern District of New York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEPTEMBER 27, 2011
CONTACT: U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
ELLEN DAVIS, CARLY SULLIVAN,
JERIKA RICHARDSON
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
(212) 637-2600
STATEN ISLAND MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN MANHATTAN FEDERAL
COURT TO TAX FRAUD RELATED TO HIS WORK AS A BASKETBALL
REFEREE AT CHELSEA PIERS
Defendant Stole Identities From Staten Island Chamber of Commerce
PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, announced that PATRICK HYLAND pled
guilty today to his role in a scheme to use stolen identities to
evade taxes on income paid to basketball referees at Chelsea
Piers. HYLAND pled guilty before U.S. District Judge JOHN G.
KOELTL to one count of filing false tax returns in 2005, 2006 and
2007.
HYLAND is the third Chelsea Piers basketball referee in
the scheme to plead guilty. The first two, former referees
GERARD FAHY and ROBERT SPENCE, pled guilty on September 14, 2011.
In addition, an Indictment was unsealed on September 15, 2011,
charging PETER IULO, a former referee and basketball program
supervisor at Chelsea Piers, and JAMES MURRAY, a Chelsea Piers
employee who oversaw the basketball program, for their
participation in the tax fraud scheme.
According to the Indictment and Informations filed in
connection with the cases:
Chelsea Piers is a sports and entertainment complex in
Manhattan where various adult basketball leagues play their
games. Referees for the basketball games are paid approximately
$40 per game by Chelsea Piers. In any year where a referee is
paid more than $600 by Chelsea Piers, the complex must report to
the IRS the payment of income to the referee.
As alleged, HYLAND and others participated in a scheme
that used stolen identification information to ensure that
referees were rarely, if ever, paid more than $600 per year in
their own names. As a result, they avoided having Chelsea Piers
report the income they earned to the IRS and evaded taxes on that
income. As part of the scheme, HYLAND and others provided
Chelsea Piers with false IRS forms that contained the stolen
identification information. When Chelsea Piers issued checks
payable to the stolen identities, the defendants fraudulently
endorsed the checks when they were deposited or cashed. HYLAND
participated in the scheme from 2000 to 2007.
For example, HYLAND earned more than $5,800 in 2005 for
officiating basketball games at Chelsea Piers. However, as a
result of the fraudulent scheme, he received $589 from Chelsea
Piers in his own name and the remainder of his income in the
names of the people whose identities he had stolen. As a result,
Chelsea Piers' records falsely reflected that HYLAND had been
paid only $589 and the complex did not report the income to the
IRS. In order to obtain identities for use in the scheme, HYLAND
used the names of friends and relatives and stole identities
through his employment at the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce,
among other sources.
* * *
HYLAND, 35, of Staten Island, New York, faces a maximum
sentence of three years in prison and one year of supervised
release. He also faces a fine of the greatest of $250,000, or
twice the gross pecuniary gain or loss resulting from the
offense.
HYLAND is scheduled to be sentenced on January 13,
2012, at 2:30 p.m.
Mr. BHARARA praised the outstanding efforts of the IRS
Criminal Investigation Division in the investigation.
This case is being handled by the Office's Complex
Frauds Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys DANIEL W. LEVY and STANLEY
J. OKULA are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges and allegations against contained in the
Indictment against IULO and MURRAY are merely accusations, and
they are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
11-294 ###
-2-
