A New York construction executive was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to 51 months in prison for evading taxes on more than $1.8 million in bribes he received from building subcontractors.
According to the criminal information, as well as other public documents and recent court proceedings, between 2011 and 2017, Vito Nigro, formerly of Middletown, New Jersey, and now of Ocean, New Jersey, was a senior construction official at Turner Construction Company, a major construction firm that performed building projects in New York City for Bloomberg LLP. Nigro used his position to participate in a scheme to obtain bribes from construction subcontractors, who paid kickbacks in exchange for being awarded construction contracts and subcontracts. In total, Nigro received approximately $1,350,000 in unlawful cash payments, which he did not report on his 2011 to 2017 tax returns. Nigro also received in-kind bribes in the form of renovations and improvement projects at his New Jersey residence.
In imposing the sentence, Judge Torres indicated that a restitution order would be entered, with the amount being no less than $780,000 owed by Nigro to the IRS, and no more than $812,000.
In related proceedings, co-conspirator Ronald Olson, the former vice president and deputy operations manager at Turner Construction, was sentenced on June 15 by the Honorable P. Kevin Castel to 46 months in prison for evading taxes on more than $1.5 million in bribes. Another co-conspirator, Anthony Guzzone, a former Director of Global Construction at Bloomberg, was sentenced on Jan. 19 by the Honorable Lewis J. Liman to 38 months in prison for evading taxes on more than $1.45 million in bribes in the same scheme. Michael Campana, a subordinate construction manager at Bloomberg also involved in the same scheme, was sentenced on July 24, 2020, by the Honorable Denise L. Cote to 24 months in prison for evading taxes on more than $420,000 in bribes.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg and Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss for the Southern District of New York made the announcement.
IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.
Senior Litigation Counsel Stanley J. Okula of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Raymond Lewis of the Southern District of New York’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit are in charge of the prosecution.