Andreea Dumitru (New York State Office of the Attorney General)
May 31, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez
A Sunnyside attorney pleaded guilty to helping her business partner, the self-named and infamous ‘Taxi King,’ commit tax fraud, the New York Attorney General announced today.
Andreea Dumitru, 43, pleaded guilty to criminal tax fraud for her role in aiding Evgeny Freidman, the disgraced ‘Taxi King’ who managed a fleet of 800 taxicabs under Taxiclub Management Inc., steal $5 million in MTA taxes. Dumitru was the CFO of the company.
“As we’ve detailed, Andreea Dumitru partnered with Evgeny Freidman to steal from New Yorkers – lining their pockets with tax dollars that should have been invested in our transit system,” said Attorney General Barbara Underwood in a statement. “We will continue to hold accountable anyone who tries to game the system for their own benefit.”
Dumitru’s guilty plea follows Freidman’s own guilty plea submitted last week, where he also agreed to pay back the $5 million he withheld from the state as part of his deal.
The case goes back to the summer of 2017, when an indictment alleged that from 2012 to 2015 Dumitru and Freidman schemed to withhold paying the “MTA Tax,” a fee automatically taken from yellow cab rides, by filing false tax returns and more.
Dumitru admitted to intentionally failing to remit the collected MTA surcharge taxes to the State Department of Taxation and Finance, the Attorney General said.
Dumitru agreed to pay $25,000 in criminal restitution as part of her plea, and to cooperate with ongoing investigations by the Attorney General’s office related to Freidman’s taxicab business. She will also be able to enter a plea of guilty to a misdemeanor instead of her current felony plea if she sticks to the terms of her plea deal.
Dumitru is also facing charges of immigration fraud in an entirely separate case with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office. The March 2018 indictment alleges that Dumitru, whose law firm is located at 48-23 Skillman Ave., submitted fraudulent forms for over 180 clients, and knowingly made false statements about them. Her charges of asylum fraud and making false statements carry prison sentences of 10 years and five years, respectively.
Dumitru’s law firm on Skillman Avenue. (Google Maps)
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7 Comments
Quilty as charged!
The Attorney General would do far better by investigating the black hole of tax money and toll money that is the MTA.
She obviously took a deal and will dime out Freidman. Hopefully we get a new honest business on 43rd Ave
Like Trader Joe’s
25,000….she should go to hell
What kind of deal is that? She steals $5 million and pays $25,000!? That’s ridiculously low. By that measure crime sure all hell does pay. What is the catch here? Did she give evidence to Muller on the Russia investigation? Something is seriously wrong here. When I park an inch over a line painted on the street I pay through the nose. Evidently my government actually likes big criminals and can’t stop themselves from raping the late, the short sighted, the inattentive and those with a bad grasp of time ticking away.
I believe her client, Freidman, is being held liable for that. The MTA needs it. Charges were brought against him about 2 weeks ago. He’s been in business with Michael Cohen, Trump’s lawyer…what a group!