Federal prosecutors allege that a Staten Island construction company owner hid about $13 million in business receipts and paid employees about $5 million in wages without withholding federal taxes, according to an indictment unsealed Oct. 26. Arthur Nelson, of Staten Island and Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, owned and ran a group of contractors known as the Nelson Companies. Three other people were charged alongside him.
The Justice Department said in a release on the case that the companies installed commercial glass, fabricated metal and did electrical work, operating from Brooklyn until March 2022 and from New Jersey afterward. An indictment is only an allegation, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
What the indictment charges
Nelson faces one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, six counts of willful failure to withhold and pay over employment taxes, two counts of tax evasion, one count of attempting to interfere with the administration of the tax laws, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of willful failure to file foreign bank account reports. Most of those counts carry a maximum of five years in prison, and the wire fraud conspiracy count carries up to 20…