Matawan Man, Ex-Fulop Advisor Now Indicted By Federal Grand Jury

MATAWAN, NJ — A former political advisor to Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop has now been indicted by a U.S. grand jury on multiple counts of tax evasion and failure to file federal tax returns.

The man is Tom Bertoli, 62, who lives in Matawan. Patch wrote about Bertoli when he was first arrested on the tax evasion charges in the beginning of this month. His indictment was unsealed and announced by U.S. Attorney Craig Carpentino on Tuesday of this week.

Bertoli is well known in Hudson County as a one-time political consultant for Fulop, and he's credited with helping Fulop first get elected as mayor in 2013. In fact, money Bertoli was paid for his work on Jersey City political campaigns is part of the income he failed to pay taxes on, say federal prosecutors, although they did not specify which campaign.

Bertoli was indicted Tuesday on three counts of tax evasion, one count of corrupt interference with the administration of the IRS laws and four counts of failure to file tax returns. He will be arraigned at a later date.

Federal prosecutors say the money all stems from work he did in Jersey City from 2006 - 2016, from work he did as both a real estate and political consultant.

Bertoli operated the following businesses: The Doormen Inc.; City Street Associates LLC, a/k/a CSA LLC; and Urban Logistics LLC. He took payments from developers and construction firms eager to build in Jersey City's boom period, say the feds, and in return he facilitated the process of getting the developers building permits and other government agency approvals. He was also paid for his consultancy work on Jersey City political campaigns.

The work was legal, say prosecutors. But he failed to pay taxes on his income, they allege.

Bertoli cashed checks he was given from developers at check-cashing businesses to evade the IRS, say the feds.

"Bertoli obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars in gross receipts for calendar years 2009 to 2016," read the U.S. Attorney's statement. "Bertoli had not, as of April 18, 2017, filed federal tax returns or paid any of the taxes due, other than a $5,000 nominal payment in September 2014, for those years, despite receiving substantial gross receipts and having a substantial tax due and owing. He concealed and attempted to conceal from the IRS his income and assets through various means: Bertoli cashed at check cashers payments from his clients, made false and fraudulent statements to the IRS, and used the Urban Logistics bank account for personal expenditures."

Bertoli is charged with evasion of payment of taxes for calendar years 2009 to 2013 and evasion of assessment of taxes for calendar years 2014 and 2015. He is also charged with failing to file tax returns for calendar years 2013 to 2016.

He is facing prison time and fines.

It was Bloomberg News that first reported last June that Bertoli was under a federal investigation for failing to pay taxes on money he was given from Jersey City developers. Fulop has not been accused of any wrongdoing and was not aware of any federal probe into Bertoli, his spokeswoman told the media at the time. Bertoli appears not to have been connected to Fulop for some time now.

Related: Ex-Fulop Advisor Tom Bertoli Of Matawan Charged With Tax Evasion