Former Mayor Inteso Pleads Not Guilty To Tax Evasion

A former mayor and committeeman has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of tax evasion.

Toms River resident , 46, is charged with three counts of federal personal income tax evasion and three counts of failing to file federal personal income tax returns. He pleaded not guilty to all charges yesterday.

A trial is set to begin 9:30 a.m. Sept. 19. Pre-trial motions are scheduled for tomorrow, according to court documents.

Prosecuting the case is Lee Cortes, Assistant United States Attorney. Inteso has retained Attorney Scott Alan Krasny for his defense.

The arraignment took place over ten minutes Wednesday morning before Judge Joel Pisano, according to court documents.

Federal investigators allege Inteso used a sham company as part of a tax evasion scheme. The company was used to shelter payments worth hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years, according to a federal indictment. Inteso failed to pay taxes on this money, though he allegedly used it for personal withdrawal.

"Defendent Inteso also controlled a company that had ceased operating by at least in or about 2007 and was instead used by defendent Inteso to facilitate his evasion of federal income taxes," according to the indictment.

An insurance broker from Towson, Maryland would make payments to the sham company, and those payments totalled $133,235 in 2006, $127,304 in 2007, and $31,253 in 2008, according to the indictment. The payments would be more than $10,000 in a month. Inteso would then use these funds for personal expenses. The IRS says Inteso owes taxes on this income for tax years 2006-2008.

The indictment states the unreported income and tax delinquency is allegedly:

• 2006: $155,226 unreported income, $26,971 in taxes owed.
• 2007: $135,271 in unreported income, $20,839 in taxes owed.
• 2008: $62,504 in unreported income, $3,206 in taxes owed.

The indictment alleges the insurance broker received premiums, brokerage commissions and fees on a yearly basis for providing insurance brokerage for the Brick board of education and for Toms River.

He was arrested July 9 after returning from Afghanistan, where he had been working as a contractor, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, which alleges he took a job in Afghanistan after learning he was the target of the tax investigation.

Inteso served briefly as mayor in 2002 and then served as deputy mayor for the Dover Township Committee in 2003. He served as a councilman-at-large from 2004 to 2007 for Toms River Council.

A Republican, he ran for mayor in 2007 as an independent but lost to Tom Kelaher.