PA's Largest Home Built On Tax Fraud, Indictment Alleges

PITTSBURGH, PA - The owner of what is believed to be Pennsylvania’s largest residence has been indicted on charges that include he fraudulently claimed construction of the 39,000-square-foot mansion as a corporate business expense.

A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted Joseph W. Nocito of Bell Acres in suburban Pittsburgh of conspiracy to defraud the United States and filing fraudulent income tax returns. Nocito is the former president and chief executive officer of AHS Inc., a health services management company.

"The indictment alleges that Nocito conspired to conceal millions of dollars in personal income from the IRS in two ways,” U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said in a statement.

“First, by causing construction costs for his multimillion dollar personal residence to be recorded as business expenses of companies he controlled, and second, by devising an elaborate shell game where he transferred money among his companies for the purpose of evading taxes.”

Nocito built the mansion, which Forbes said is believed to be the largest in Pennsylvania, in 2003. In a 2010 profile of the house, homesoftherich.net Nocito's home made neighboring million-dollar homes “look like puny shacks.”

The home has 34 rooms, including 12-bedrooms, 13 full bathrooms, 8 half-bathrooms, and also boasts 22 fireplaces. The home’s current assessed value is $4.2 million, but some reports have indicated the property could be worth as much as five times that.

Online photos of 6.2 acre-lot on which the mansion sits includes a large swimming pool, tennis court, basketball court, garden and several fountains.

In addition to the mansion he dubbed “Villa Noci,” the indictment said the personal expenses Nocito fraudulently claimed were corporate business expenses included payments on a Jaguar, Maserati and Rolls Royce, a personal butler and cook and country club memberships.

Nocito also is charged with understating his income on his personal tax returns by not reporting the income he diverted for personal expenses.

Nocito, who could not immediately be reached for comment by Patch, faces up to 32 years in prison, a $2.5 million fine, or both.

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