Sollozzo
WHITE PLAINS – A former transportation supervisor Monday pled guilty
in Westchester County Court charges of grand larceny and criminal tax
fraud, both as felonies, in connection with the theft of some $280,000
from the city for bus services that were never provided for the Nepperhan
Community Center.
Anna Sollozzo, 53, of Yonkers, faces up to 15 years in state prison when
sentenced next April.
Over the period of some two years from September 2012 to April 2014, Sollozzo
along with William Ahern, 59, of Armonk, was charged with grand larceny
and rewarding official misconduct, both as felonies. He was charged with
aiding and abetting and acting with Sollozzo to steal the funds.
Ahern is the owner of A-Plus Transportation and a co-defendant of Sollozzo.
The two were charged with creating a phantom bus route by invoicing the
Board of Education for bus pickups at the Nepperhan Community Center,
when no buses ever were ever dispatched there. Ahern would then submit
false invoices for the services that were never provided. Sollozzo would
knowingly approve those invoices for payment despite the fact that the
services were never provided.
During the same time period, Ahern was secretly depositing money into
Sollozzo’s personal bank account totaling over $107,000. A-Plus
Transportation had contracts for bus services with the City of Yonkers
totaling about $2.8 million for the period of September 2012 to February
2014. Sollozzo, as a city employee, approved the invoices for the buses.
In addition, Sollozzo, from March 2011 to April 2014, neglected to remit
a total of over $282,000 to New York State income tax.
