⏱ 3 min read
James Pavlounis, 53, is trading his New Rochelle address for a federal prison cell after admitting to a decade-plus con. For 12 years, starting January 2013, Pavlounis pocketed $646,370 in bogus Social Security disability payments while secretly raking in cash from his valet parking business, Select Parking Systems Inc. – and dodging taxes on it.
The feds say Pavlounis told the Social Security Administration he was too disabled to work, a convenient lie considering the money flowing in from SPS. But the scheme didn’t stop there. Between 2018 and 2022, he allegedly hid the profits of SPS, failing to pay $248,810 in corporate taxes. He used a family member as a front for the business and diverted company funds for personal expenses, trying to make it *look* like SPS wasn’t turning a profit.
Pavlounis pleaded guilty in September 2025 before U.S. District Judge Philip M. Halpern. Today, Halpern sentenced Pavlounis to 37 months behind bars. The investigation was a joint effort between the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General and the IRS – Criminal Investigation, proving that even hidden money leaves a trail.
“Programs like Social Security depend on honesty,” stated U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, in a remarkably dry assessment of a brazen, years-long swindle. Honesty, and a whole lot of paperwork that eventually unravels schemes like this one.
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📋 Key Facts
- Crime: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Defendant: New York
- Location: US
- Source: U.S. Department of Justice
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