NEW YORK (AP) -- A former construction company owner used his industry connections to squeeze money out of subcontractors, filed false records and evaded state taxes on more than $1.4 million in income, prosecutors said Thursday.
Vincent Grimaldi introduced subcontractors to general contractors for a 5 percent fee, Manhattan prosecutors said. He later insisted they pay him each time the subcontractor and general contractor worked on a new project, even if he had done nothing to get the new job for the subcontractor, they said.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Daniel Castleman said Grimaldi, 58, accepted and cashed checks made out to construction industry suppliers who had nothing to do with the projects. Grimaldi would forge an endorsement to himself, Castleman said.
A 26-count indictment charges Grimaldi with criminal possession of a forged instrument, falsifying business records, offering a false instrument for filing and filing a false personal tax return with intent to evade.
Prosecutors say Grimaldi falsified his state tax returns from 2002 through 2005 by not reporting $1,408,000 in income and filed no tax return in 2006.
Grimaldi's attorney, Nicholas DeFeis, did not immediately return a telephone call for comment.
The indictment also names the company Grimaldi owns, V&V Check Cashing Corp., of the Bronx and Mamaroneck, as a defendant.
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