A CO DOWN man charged with involvement in a US multi-million pound tax-dodging scheme has been remanded in custody in New York.
Paul Feenan, originally from Downpatrick, was arrested alongside Bronx pub owner Thomas Keenan and New Jersey pawn shop owner Ian Woloshin.
The trio are accused of running a massive illegal cheque-cashing ring that helped Port Authority contractors dodge paying taxes.
Manhattan prosecutors allege they illegally cashed nearly $17 million in cheques for at least 19 businesses between 2012 and 2014.
Criminal and civil court papers say the associates made nearly $1m from the scheme by taking a five per cent commission on each illegally cashed cheque.
The charges follow a joint probe by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and the Port Authority into contractors underreporting payroll.
Prosecutors said three men ran an illegal cheque-cashing scheme out of Yonkers bar Tommy K's, owned by Mr Keenan.
An affidavit said investigators from the Port Authority, working with the New York County District Attorney's Office, "identified various businesses that were cashing third-party cheques and paying their workers in cash in order to underreport payroll and avoid taxes, worker's compensation insurance premiums and other business expenses".
More arrests are expected.
Mr Keenan and Mr Feenan (48) were both arraigned on conspiracy, bank fraud charges, felony tax fraud and identity theft charges. Both pleaded not guilty.
Paul Feenan, who is reported to be an illegal immigrant in the United States, was remanded to jail.
Bail was set at $50,000 for Mr Keenan.
Prosecutors said the scheme involved business owners dropping off commercial cheques to Mr Keenan or Mr Feenan at Tommy K's and other locations including gasoline stations.
According to court documents, in return the men would hand the owner cash in a paper or plastic bag for the amount of the cheque minus a five percent commission.
Prosecutors claim Mr Keenan and Mr Feenan - whose nickname is Pogo - would endorse the cheques, even though they were not the named recipients.
It is alleged the cheques would be delivered to Mr Woloshin, who would deposit them in a business account connected to his pawn shop, which was a licensed cheque-cashing operation.
Sometimes the cheques were for hefty sums.
According to the papers, on November 11 2013, the owner of a construction company gave Mr Feenan a $149,250 cheque and received in exchange, $141,787 in cash.
The documents said the following day a runner picked up the cheque from Mr Keenan and ferried it to Mr Woloshin's pawn shop and he allegedly deposited the cheque for cash, taking a 1.5 per cent cut and delivering $147,011 in cash to Mr Keenan and Mr Feenan, leaving them with the remaining 3.5 percent commission.
The three men made at least $838,1000 off the scheme, according to prosecutors.
