NEW YORK CITY — A Bronx pub owner, an undocumented Irish immigrant and a New Jersey pawn broker ran a massive illegal check-cashing ring that helped Port Authority contractors dodge paying taxes, according to Manhattan prosecutors.
Thomas Keenan, who owns Tommy K’s bar in Yonkers, Paul Feenan and New Jersey pawn shop owner Ian Woloshin are accused of illegally cashing nearly $17 million in checks for at least 19 businesses between 2012 and 2014, according to criminal and civil court papers.
Prosecutors said that Keenan, Feenan and Woloshin made nearly $1 million off the scheme by taking a 5 percent commission on each illegally cashed check.
Charges against the three stemmed from a joint probe by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the Port Authority into contractors underreporting payroll, the court papers say.
“This case grew out of an investigation into prevailing wage and other violations of law on Port Authority contracts,” William Tamparo, an investigator for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, said in an affidavit.
“Investigators from the Port Authority, working with the New York County District Attorney’s Office, identified various businesses that were cashing third-party checks and paying their workers in cash in order to underreport payroll and avoid taxes, worker’s compensation insurance premiums and other business expenses.”
The Port Authority declined to identify the contractors involved, saying the investigation was ongoing, but more arrests were expected.
The agency added that none of the firms involved in the investigation are currently working on any Port Authority projects.
Keenan and Feenan were both arraigned Tuesday on conspiracy and bank fraud charges. They were also hit with felony tax fraud and identity theft charges. Both pleaded not guilty.
Feenan, who is an Irish immigrant illegally living in the United States, was remanded to jail. A judge set bail at $50,000 for Keenan.
Woloshin is expected to be arraigned Thursday on similar charges.
Prosecutors said the scheme involved business owners dropping off commercial checks to Keenan or Feenan at Keenan’s tavern in the Yonkers, locations in Riverdale and at gasoline stations.
In return the men would hand the owner cash in a paper or plastic bag for the amount of the check minus a 5 percent commission, according to court documents. In some instances, they would deliver the cash at a later date after passing on the check to Woloshin, the prosecutors said.
Keenan and Feenan, whose nickname is Pogo, would endorse the checks, even though they were not the named payees on the checks. Eventually, the checks would be delivered to Woloshin, who would deposit them in a business account connected to his pawn shop in Union, N.J., court documents say.
The business was a licensed check-cashing operation.
Sometimes the checks were for hefty sums.
On Nov. 11, 2013, the owner of a construction company gave Feenan a $149,250 check, according to court papers. In exchange, Feenan gave the owner $141,787 in cash, keeping 5 percent. The owner is not identified in the papers.
The following day a runner picked up the check from Keenan and ferried it to Woloshin’s pawn shop, the documents said.
Woloshin allegedly deposited the check for cash. He then took a 1.5 percent cut and delivered $147,011 in cash to Keenan and Feenan, leaving them with the remaining 3.5 percent commission.
The three men made at least $838,1000 off the scheme, according to prosecutors.
A lawyer for Keenan declined to comment. A bartender at Tommy K’s also declined to comment. Calls to the pawn shop were not answered.
The DA's Office has also started a civil forfeiture proceeding in Manhattan Civil Supreme Court to seize assets held by Keenan, Feenan and Woloshin.
