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Nikko D’Ambrosio, a suburban Chicago resident from Des Plaines, Illinois, has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for filing false personal tax returns. D’Ambrosio’s fraudulent claims included overstating business expenses and charitable contributions for the tax years 2019 and 2020.
Details of the Fraud
D’Ambrosio, a salesperson for an Illinois-based electronic sweepstakes kiosk operator, exaggerated his tax deductions in the following ways:
- Business Travel: Claimed to have driven over 474,000 miles for business purposes.
- Meal Expenses: Alleged to have incurred more than $263,000 in business-related meal expenses.
- Charitable Contributions: Claimed donations exceeding $63,000 to a Catholic church in Chicago, where he was not a parishioner.
Investigation and Trial
Financial and vehicle records presented at trial disproved D’Ambrosio’s claims. A church representative confirmed that there were no records of D’Ambrosio’s supposed donations. A federal jury convicted D’Ambrosio earlier this year for making false statements on his tax returns.
Sentencing
U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin handed down the sentence during a hearing in federal court in Chicago. The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Jason Bushey, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago, and Robert W. “Wes” Wheeler, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI Chicago Field Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard M. Rothblatt and Brandon D. Stone represented the government in this case.
