Anthony Salters, 58, of Hillside, New Jersey, is staring down federal prison time after being indicted on multiple counts of tax evasion, wire fraud, and student aid fraud. The Union County man is accused of lying to the IRS and federal education authorities for years, all in an effort to dodge taxes and score financial aid he didn’t deserve.
The indictment, unsealed today in Newark, N.J., charges Salters with one count of subscribing to a false tax return for 2013, two counts for false filings in 2014 and 2015, and one count for failing to file a return in 2016. Salters, principal of Media Allies LLC—a firm claiming to offer public relations services—told the IRS his business and personal income were zero in those years. In reality, prosecutors say, he pulled in substantial gross receipts from 2013 to 2015 and tens of thousands more in 2016.
But the fraud didn’t stop at the IRS. From January 2014 to May 2017, Salters allegedly gamed the student financial aid system, submitting false Free Applications for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for his dependent child. He underreported his income to the U.S. Department of Education, the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, and a New Jersey university where his child attended as an undergraduate—defrauding the programs out of aid meant for truly needy families.
Salters faces four counts of wire fraud and three counts of student aid fraud tied directly to the financial aid scheme. Each wire fraud count carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence. Student aid fraud? Up to five years per count. The tax charges add another three years per false return, and failure to file in 2016 alone could land him one year behind bars. Fines could hit $250,000 across multiple counts, or $100,000 for the failure-to-file charge.
The takedown was the result of a coordinated investigation by federal agencies including IRS-Criminal Investigation, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General. U.S. Attorney Craig Carpeneto credited the joint effort that exposed what he called a multi-year, multi-agency deception.
The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys J Fortier Imbert and Cari Fais of the Special Prosecutions Division. No arraignment date has been set. As of now, Salters is presumed innocent—until the evidence says otherwise.
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Key Facts
- State: New Jersey
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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