WHITE PLAINS – Two men have been indicted by a Westchester County grand jury on charges stemming from a fraudulent auto crimes scheme involving a New Rochelle car dealership.
James Castellano, 53, of Valley Stream and Israel Viloria, 39, of New Rochelle were each charged with two counts of grand larceny and one count of scheme to defraud, all as felonies.
Castellano was also charged with 20 counts of falsifying business records, one count of grand larceny and one count of criminal tax fraud, all as felonies.
Castello was employed as the office manager and Viloria was employed as the used car manager for New Rochelle Hyundai in New Rochelle.
The indictment alleged that from September 2016 through mid-July 2017, the men engaged in a scheme to defraud JPMorgan Chase out of over $700,000 and the dealership out of over $500,000.
As part of their scheme, they illegally sold vehicles owned by the dealership through Global Auto Sales LLC, another car dealer owned in part by Viloria, and kept the proceeds.
Castellano is also charged with stealing approximately $300,000 by depositing checks made payable to New Rochelle Hyundai into his personal bank account.
