Three attorneys, an accountant and a doctor were arrested Tuesday for failing to file a combined total of more than $365,000 in state personal income taxes, Nassau prosecutors said. The arrests were part of a statewide sweep by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (NYSDTF).
The attorneys who were charged with failure to file a personal income tax return include 47-year-old David Mollon of Great Neck, 50-year-old Kelly Talcott of Sea Cliff and Dennis O’Leary, 57, of Westbury. Facing the same charge is 53-year-old Gerald Gartner of Lawrence, a certified public accountant, and 62-year-old Avelino Rosales of Cedarhurst, a physician.
All except Rosales were also charged with criminal tax fraud. They will be arraigned Tuesday at First District Court in Hempstead.
Mollon failed to file state tax returns from 2006 to 2008, during which time he earned more than $1.79 million and failed to pay more than $117,000 in taxes, prosecutors said.
Talcott allegedly failed to file state tax returns from 2002 to 2005 and again in 2008, during which time he earned more than $2.68 million and failed to pay more than $111,000 in taxes.
Gartner failed to file state tax returns from 2005 to 2008, during which time he earned more than $1.5 million and failed to pay more than $68,900 in taxes, prosecutors said.
Rosales allegedly failed to file state tax returns from 2002 to 2006, during which time he earned more than $1.179 million and failed to pay more than $44,000 in taxes.
O’Leary failed to file state tax returns from 2004 to 2008, during which time he earned more than $763,000 and failed to pay more than $23,000 in taxes, prosecutors said.
“We are arresting increasing numbers of tax cheats who simply do not file returns,” NYSDTF Acting Commissioner Jamie Woodward said in a statement. “We have many of these kinds of cases in the works, and that will result in more arrests in the coming weeks. People who ignore filing obligations should not expect to evade detection.”
Cornell Bouse, attorney for Dennis O’Leary, characterized the arrests as “selective enforcement,” adding that he estimates there are more than 1,000 people who haven’t filed their taxes in two years or more. “He’s a fine attorney who comes from a long line of fine attorneys,” Bouse said. He said that his client will plead not guilty.
Attorneys for Mollon, Gartner and Rosales did not immediately return calls for comment. Edward Lieberman, attorney for Talcott, declined to comment but said his client will plead not guilty.
“The five defendants arrested today have gotten rich by stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from honest taxpayers across this state,” Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement.
Rosales and O’Leary face up to four years in prison, if convicted. Mollon, Talcott and Gartner face up to seven years in prison.