Prison For Manager Who Embezzled $300K From Hyundai Dealership

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — A former employee who embezzled more than $300,000 from a New Rochelle car dealership will spend time in prison and was ordered to pay taxes on the money he stole.

James Castellano was sentenced to serve two to six years in prison for embezzling more than $300,000 from the car dealership where he worked, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance announced.

In 2017, while working as the office manager at Hyundai of New Rochelle, Castellano diverted more than $307,000 in checks made out to Hyundai into his personal bank account. He was charged in February 2020 with felony grand larceny. Because he didn’t report the embezzled money on his personal income tax return for that year, he was also charged with a felony tax fraud.

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He was sentenced to one to three years in prison on the tax charge to run concurrent with the two to six year sentence on the larceny charge and was ordered to pay $20,455 in restitution to New York State. He was also ordered to pay $307,610 in restitution to the dealership.

"This case should serve as a warning to anyone considering similar criminal acts: you will be caught and face serious consequences," New York State Acting Commissioner of Taxation and Finance Amanda Hiller said. "We’ll continue to work with all our partners in law enforcement, including the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, to root out tax fraud in all its variations."

Westchester County Assistant District Attorney Brian Fitzgerald prosecuted the case, while the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office investigated the case.