Former GOP Toms River Mayor Arrested on Charges Related to Ritacco-Gartland Insurance Fraud
By Phil Stilton
Carmine Inteso, a former GOP committeeman and mayor of Toms River has been arrested by federal authorities at JFK International Airport in New York City on charges of tax evasion.
According to a brief released today by Rebekah Carmichael from the US Attorney’s Office, he was arrested upon his return from Afghanistan, where he was working as a civilian contractor. He is scheduled to appear before Judge Falk in Newark at 2:00pm this afternoon.
The indictment claims Inteso was the beneficiary of a ”sham company” which received $291,792 in payments from an insurance company. The indictment says Inteso received money through the sham company from an insurance broker who served the Toms River Board of Education.
Although the indictment did not list the broker by name, it is assumed to be Federal Hill Risk Management, operated by Francis Gartland. In April of 2012, Gartland pleaded guilty to theft by deception and money laundering.
Toms River School Board Superintendent Michael Ritacco also pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges and corruption after receiving $2 million from Federal Hill Risk Management.
For Inteso, the IRS is claiming between 2006 and 2008, hewithdrew $279,000 of the total sum from the bank account of the sham company. The IRS also claims Inteso did not pay personal income tax on the monies received from the “sham company” and willingly and knowingly committed income tax evasion. The IRS is claiming Inteso has a current tax deficiency of $49,000 and willfully did not file income tax returns in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
The charges indicate that the payments were made during the time Inteso served as Mayor of Toms River.
Inteso made regional headlines back in 2002 when, as acting Mayor, he allegedly assaulted fellow committeeman John Furey in the ballroom of Trump Marina in Atlantic City.
Inteso, according to the complaint filed in July 2002, attacked Furey for taking a photograph of Inteso and his companion, who turned out to be a woman who was not his wife, according to Furey.
Furey, a Democat and Inteso, a Republican had been political opponents. Furey dropped the criminal assault charges two weeks later, citing “the best interests of the township”.
Later that year, in August of 2002, Inteso, who became acting Mayor after the former Mayor, Bud Aldrich resigned was named Mayor and Furey was awarded the title of Deputy Mayor.
At the time, Inteso owned and operated an information technology based consulting firm in downtown Toms River.
Photos Obtained from facebook.
Posted by Ocean County News
on Jul 10 2012. Filed under Community, Headline News, Politics.
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