WHITE PLAINS – An Armonk man and Yonkers woman are charged with stealing some $280,000 from the City of Yonkers for school bus services that were never provided for the Nepperhan Community Center. The crimes occurred over a two-year period where the bus company vendor submitted false invoices for bus services that were never provided and the Board of Education’s transportation supervisor would knowingly approve the invoices for payment, even though the services were never provided.
William Ahern, 59, of Armonk, was charged with grand larceny and rewarding official misconduct, both as felonies.
Anna Sollozzo, 52, of Yonkers, was charged with grand larceny, criminal tax fraud, receiving reward for official misconduct, three counts of criminal tax fraud and three counts of offering a false instrument for filing, all as felonies.
The Westchester DA’s office said that in effect, Ahern and Sollozzo created a phantom bus route by invoicing the board of education for bus pickups at the community center, when no buses were ever dispatched. Ahern would then submit false invoices for the services and Sollozzo would approve them for payment. Over the period of the same, Yonkers paid $2.8 million for those fake services.
If convicted, each faces up to 15 years in state prison.
