Manalapan, New Jersey Man Admits Tax Evasion and Making False Statements

TRENTON, NJ—A Manalpan, N.J., man admitted today to evading his personal taxes and sending false documents to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in order to receive federal funding to which he was not entitled, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Eric Logiudice, 41, pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of tax evasion relating to tax year 2006, and one count of making false statements. The false statements were made in documents submitted in order to obtain community redevelopment funds. The defendant entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano in Trenton federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made during Logiudice’s guilty plea proceeding:

Logiudice admitted that he evaded paying approximately $115,711 in personal income taxes for 2006. From 2005 through 2008, he evaded approximately $199,847 in personal income taxes by submitting false and fraudulent tax returns that failed to disclose approximately $607,161 in income. This unreported income included at least approximately $150,000 stolen and embezzled from the defendant’s former employer, NJS Metropolitan Architectural Woodworking Inc., in Union, N.J. (NJS).

While working at NJS, Logiudice became aware that an individual was submitting an application to the City of Orange Township Department of Planning and Development to receive Essex County HUD’s Community Economic Revitalization Program funds for a renovation project on Lincoln Avenue. After the defendant became the general contractor for the project, he caused another NJS employee to create fraudulent, certified weekly payroll reports for five employees who never worked on the project and then submitted them to City of Orange officials, obtaining $52,872.50 in community redevelopment funds from HUD.

The charges to which Logiudice pleaded guilty each carry a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. In addition, Logiudice has agreed to pay restitution of $199,847 to the IRS for all losses resulting from his submission of fraudulent tax returns for 2005 through 2008; $52,872.50 to HUD for his submission of fraudulent payroll records; and at least $150,000 to NJS Metropolitan Architectural Woodworking Inc. Sentencing is currently scheduled for October 17, 2011.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward; IRS - Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Victor W. Lessoff; the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering & Fraud Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Robert L. Panella; and the HUD Office of Inspector General, Mid-Atlantic Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Joseph W. Clarke, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by David E. Malagold, Acting Chief of the of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Organized Crime/Gangs Unit in Newark.

Defense counsel:
Tim Donohue Esq., West Orange, N.J.