Former Harrison Police Chief Sentenced For Tax Evasion

HARRISON, NY — The former chief of the Harrison Police Department will spend some time in prison. Anthony Marraccini was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in prison for tax evasion.

Marraccini pleaded guilty in January before U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas, who imposed today’s sentence. In addition to the prison term, the 54-year-old West Harrison resident was sentenced to one year of supervised release and ordered to pay a $25,000 fine.

“When Anthony Marraccini became a police officer in the Town of Harrison, he swore to uphold the law. Instead, he violated the public’s trust when he evaded more than $902,000 in federal and state income taxes," Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in an announcement. "Today’s sentence serves as a reminder that the laws of our land apply to all, regardless of position or power.”

Prosecutors said that while Marraccini was the Chief of Police for the Town of Harrison 2011-16, he also owned and operated Coastal Construction Associates LLC (“Coastal Construction”), a construction business, and was also employed as a salesperson for two title companies. In addition, he owned several residential rental properties.

He failed to report all of Coastal Construction’s revenue on his income tax returns from 2011 through 2016. Instead, he deposited some checks Coastal Construction received for construction work into his personal bank accounts. He also cashed some checks Coastal Construction received at a check cashing service and kept the cash for his personal use.

In some instances, Marraccini deposited checks Coastal Construction received into Coastal Construction’s bank accounts but took portions of the deposits as cash, thus reducing the amounts of the deposits on Coastal Construction’s bank account statements. He then falsely represented to his tax return preparers that Coastal Construction’s bank account statements showed the vast majority of the company’s revenue for each year.

He failed to report more than $2.3 million in revenue for Coastal Construction for the tax years 2011 through 2016.

He also failed to report a total of more than $199,800 in rents received from two rental homes he owned in Purchase, New York, from 2011 through 2015. In addition, he failed to report $24,500 in rents he received from a rental home he owned in Rye, New York, in 2013 and 2014.

In total, Marraccini failed to report more than $2.5 million in revenue from Coastal Construction and the rental properties, thereby evading more than $782,000 in federal income tax and more than $119,000 in state income tax, from 2011 through 2016.

Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the IRS-CI and the Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant United States Attorney James McMahon is in charge of the prosecution.

SEE: Harrison's Ex-Police Chief Evaded $780,000 In Taxes