Hempstead Town Councilman Edward Ambrosino has admitted to committing federal tax fraud, prompting the Republican to resign the elected seat he’s held for the past 16 years.
The 54-year-old North Valley Stream man pleaded guilty to tax evasion Wednesday at Central Islip federal court.
“Just like the people who put him in office, Ambrosino owed it to his fellow citizens to pay his fair share of taxes,” said Richard P. Donoghue, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Federal prosecutors said Ambrosino, an attorney who will be disbarred due to the felony conviction, diverted more than $800,000 in legal fees from clients that he was required to provide to his former Uniondale-based law firm. The clients included the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency and the Nassau County Local Economic Assistance Corporation.
Ambrosino also evaded substantial income tax, and filed false and fraudulent
corporate tax returns on behalf of Vanderbilt in 2011, 2012, and 2013, authorities said. He claimed false and fraudulent business expense deductions, and failing to report funds he diverted from his former law firm, according to investigators.
Ambrosino faces up to five years in federal prison, as well as $254,628 restitution to the Internal Revenue Service for the tax years 2011 through 2014 when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert. He also agreed to pay $700,000 in restitution to his former firm.
