Landscaper charged with failure to pay U.S. taxes

The owner of a Monmouth County landscaping and contracting business was arrested on Feb. 15 after being indicted for tax evasion, U.S. Attor-ney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Christopher M. Aldarelli Sr., 40, of Howell, is charged with three counts of tax evasion, each of which carries a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $100,000 fine, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Newark.

On Feb. 16, Aldarelli appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo, who set bail at $100,000 to be secured by real estate owned by his father.

The indictment states that from 1998 through 2000, Aldarelli ran two corporations, Aldo 1 Landscaping and Lawn Service Inc. and Aldarelli Enterprises Inc., which performed a large volume of paving, construction, high-end landscaping and lawn-cutting work for private residences and municipalities.

The businesses were first located in Ocean Township and subsequently in Wall Township during the period covered in the indictment.

The indictment further states that because the businesses were "S" corporations, Aldarelli was required to report any income derived from them on his U.S. Individual Tax Return, Form 1040. The indictment states that for the three years in question, Aldarelli reported that he owed a combined total tax in the amount of just under $15,000.

The indictment further alleges that Aldarelli withdrew substantial amounts of cash from the corporate accounts of the two businesses and wrote checks off those accounts, which were used to pay personal and other nonbusiness expenses, but failed to report these amounts as income. Specifically, the indictment alleges that for each of the three years of the indictment, there was a tax due and owing to the IRS by Aldarelli of more than $100,000.

According to the press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Aldarelli is represented by attorney Steven D. Altman, of New Brunswick. Altman did not return messages left by Greater Media News-papers seeking comment on this indictment.