Defendants: James Castellano (DOB 09/12/67);  Israel Viloria (DOB 09/25/80)

Feb. 6, 2020 – Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino Jr. announced that James Castellano of Valley Stream and Israel Viloria of New Rochelle were indicted and arraigned on charges stemming from a fraudulent auto crimes scheme involving a New Rochelle car dealership.

Specifically, the defendants were arraigned on the following charges:

Both Castellano and Viloria were charged with the following three counts:

  • Two Counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony
  • One count of a Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a class E felony


Castellano alone was charged with:

  • 20 counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, a class E felony
  • One count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony
  • One count of Criminal Tax Fraud in the Third Degree, a class D felony (under NYS Tax Law)


Israel Viloria was arraigned Jan. 16, 2020, before Judge David Zuckerman. James Castellano was arraigned Feb. 5, 2020, in front of Judge Susan Cacace. Both were released on their own recognizance.

Background
James Castellano was employed as the Office Manager and Israel Viloria was employed as the Used Car Manager for New Rochelle Hyundai LLC, a car dealership in the City of New Rochelle. The indictment alleges, from approximately Sept. 28, 2016, through July 14, 2017, the two men were engaged in a scheme to defraud JPMorgan Chase out of over $700,000 and New Rochelle Hyundai LLC out of over $500,000.

As part of their scheme, they illegally sold vehicles owned by New Rochelle Hyundai through Global Auto Sales LLC, a car dealership owned in part by Viloria, and kept the proceeds of these sales.

They perpetrated this scheme by listing, in New Rochelle Hyundai’s records, details of cars that were not owned by the Hyundai dealer. By doing so, the dealership’s bank, JPMorgan Chase, made business funds available for the purchase of these vehicles. That cash flow into New Rochelle Hyundai accounts helped to cover up the actual theft of vehicles which Viloria and Castellano were selling on the side.

In addition, Castellano is charged with stealing approximately $300,000 by depositing checks made payable to New Rochelle Hyundai LLC into his personal bank account. These checks were supposed to have been received by New
Rochelle Hyundai for the sale of vehicles owned by the dealership. He also failed to pay taxes on this money for tax year 2017.

The case is being prosecuted by the Economic Crimes Bureau of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.

 In compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 3.6, you are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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