Bilal Salaj, Tax Fraud, New York 2023

Bilal Salaj, a 56-year-old resident of Morganville, New Jersey, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to 19 months in prison for perpetrating tax fraud.

The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel, who accepted Salaj’s guilty plea to conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), tax evasion, and failure to pay over payroll taxes.

According to the allegations, Salaj operated a construction business in Manhattan, initially as the record owner, but later under a new entity that was, on paper, wholly owned by a third party. Despite this change in ownership, Salaj continued to exercise principal control and decision-making authority over the business and its financial affairs.

Between 2014 and June 2019, Salaj devised and perpetrated a scheme to evade a substantial portion of both the payroll taxes for the construction business and Salaj’s personal income taxes. During this period, Salaj cashed and caused a third party to cash approximately $3.2 million in business checks payable to the construction company at check cashing facilities in Manhattan.

Salaj used a portion of the proceeds to pay cash wages to employees of the construction business, and spent most of the rest on personal expenses. Salaj did not withhold or pay over to the IRS any payroll taxes on the cash wages paid to the employees, and did not report to the IRS or pay any personal income taxes on the cash income he realized through the cashed checks.

The tax evasion scheme resulted in a tax loss to the IRS of approximately $952,778. In addition to the prison term, Judge Castel ordered Salaj to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $952,778 and to serve three years of supervised release.

The case was prosecuted by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, with Assistant United States Attorney Olga I. Zverovich in charge of the prosecution.

U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss praised the outstanding work of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, in this case.

Bilal Salaj’s sentence serves as a reminder that tax fraud is a serious federal crime and not worth the risk.

Salaj’s name, the exact criminal charges of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), tax evasion, and failure to pay over payroll taxes, the city and state of Manhattan, New York, the exact date of the sentencing of January 26, 2023, the sentence of 19 months in prison, the dollar amount of $952,778 for restitution to the IRS, and the fact that Salaj is a 56-year-old resident of Morganville, New Jersey.

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