Building a “Villa” Isn’t Considered a Business Expense by the IRS

Joseph Nocito, of Sewickley, PA was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2018 on charges of conspiring to defraud the US and filing fraudulent income tax returns.

It’s alleged that Nocito, the CEO and President of Automated Health Systems Inc. (AHS), fraudulently claimed millions of dollars of personal expenses as corporate business expenses, such as construction of his 39,000 sq. ft. house which he named “Villa Noci”, payments on a Jaguar, Maserati and Rolls Royce, a personal butler and cook, and country club memberships. Nocito did not report the income he diverted on his personal tax returns.

Furthermore, the indictment alleges that Nocito hid millions of dollars in taxable income from AHS by diverting the funds to other companies he owned, and  falsely claimed these funds on his corporate returns as management, administrative and consulting expenses to reduce his tax liability.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge, three years for each count of filing a fraudulent return, monetary penalties, restitution and supervised release.