Owners, Employees of Former Belleville-Based Construction Company Under Federal Investigation

The owner of three Parsippany, N.J.-based construction companies formerly headquartered in Belleville surrendered to federal agents this morning on charges that he failed to collect and turnover federal and state payroll taxes totaling more than $1 million, evaded personal income taxes on more than $1.4 million in income, and falsified reports with respect to union benefit fund contributions, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Three employees of the construction companies were also arrested on charges including filing false income tax returns, bankruptcy fraud and an unemployment benefit scheme.

Frank Chimento, Jr., 67, of West Caldwell, N.J., was the owner of Chimento Construction, Chimento Construction Services, and FAC Construction, which specialized in commercial masonry and concrete work. 

From 2008 through 2011, the Chimento Companies primarily worked on the Palmer Square project in Princeton.  

Chimento Companies allegedly mostly paid his employees in cash between 2006 and 2011 and had one of his employees go to different financial institutions to get cash for the payroll to avoid filing currency transaction reports.

Prosecutors say that Chimento Jr. would make the cash payments and not report payroll taxes.

According to the complaint, from August 14, 2009, through April 30, 2012, Chimento Jr. failed to make required contributions to Union benefits funds he was required to make under collective bargaining agreements and falsified reports concerning those contributions. 

Prosecutors say Joseph Carsillo, 45, of East Hanover, N.J., the project superintendent for the Chimento Companies at Palmer Square, conspired with Chimento Jr. to not pay payroll taxes for the companies’ employees. Carsillo was responsible for keeping track of employees’ hours and would furnish that information to CC-1, which was used to determine the cash wages due to each employee.

According to the complaint, Carsillo received approximately $167,466 from the Chimento Companies between 2009 and 2011 that he failed to include on his personal tax returns.

Frank Chimento III, 45, of Verona worked for the Chimento Companies for more than 10 years and was one of the employees paid in cash.

In 2007, Chimento III briefly operated an excavation business. An analysis of his bank accounts showed payments in 2007 from the Chimento Companies totaling $85,860.

Chimento III filed with the IRS a 2007 Individual Income Tax Return that did not include $45,860 he received from the Chimento Companies.

Prosecutors said he also allegedly did not file individual income tax returns from 2008 through 2011 although he received a Form 1099 for $100,000 in cash wages in 2008, and a total of $351,788 in cash wages during the years 2009 through 2011.

Carl J. Corso, 58, of Hamilton Township, N.J., started working for the Chimento Companies on August 12, 2009.

In addition to payroll checks, Corso requested and received cash from the Chimento Companies in 2009 through 2011. Corso disclosed to his return 3 preparer only the wages he received by payroll check and deliberately omitted the cash payments from his personal tax returns despite knowing that the cash should have been included on these returns. 

Corso is also charged with defrauding the N.J. Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL-WD) with respect to unemployment compensation benefits. Prosecutors say that on Nov. 1, 2009, Corso told the NJDOL-WD he was no longer working to claim a weekly benefit of $526 and ultimately collected a total of $19,988 through the U.S. mail.

U.S. Attorney Fishman praised special agents of the IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Shantelle P. Kitchen; U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Cheryl Garcia New York Regional Office, for the investigation leading to today’s charges. He also thanked the N.J. Department of Labor and Workforce Development, under the leadership of Commissioner Harold J. Wirths for its assistance in the investigation.