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Company Owners Charged With Defrauding Westchester Businesses $500K

BREWSTER, N.Y. – The owners and operators of ATNM Corporation in Briarcliff Manor are facing felony charges for their roles in a scheme to defraud Westchester County businesses through false documentation.

Stephen DiSalvo, Chris E. Leggio and Chris C. Leggio all stand accused of defrauding Westchester County businesses.

Stephen DiSalvo, Chris E. Leggio and Chris C. Leggio all stand accused of defrauding Westchester County businesses.

Photo Credit: Zak Failla

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and District Attorney Janet DiFiore announced Tuesday that Brewster residents Christopher C. Leggio, age 56, Christopher E. Leggio, age 20, and Florida native Stephen DiSalvo were each charged with felony counts of second-degree grand larceny and first-degree scheming to defraud for their role in illegally documenting how much waste their company was transporting.

ATNM, the Briarcliff Manor-based business licensed to haul solid waste in the region, is owned by the elder Leggio, with the assistance of the other two defendants. Over a two-and-a-half year period beginning in January 2013, the defendants “systematically and falsely altered several hundreds of dump tickets so as to fraudulently reflect a higher tonnage of solid waste being transported.”

Those false tickets were then submitted to a solid waste hauling broker that worked with ATNM, resulting in the broker paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to the defendants for work that was never performed.

The broker negotiated garbage-hauling contracts with multiple commercial establishments in the region, unknowingly passing along falsely inflated invoices to those companies, who subsequently paid the illegal invoices.

In total, more than $500,000 was overcharged and stolen by the team at ATNM from the multiple commercial companies, DiFiore said.

“As alleged in the complaint, by altering the dump tickets, this scheme had real financial implications for both companies doing business in Westchester County, and their customers, who ultimately paid higher prices because of the theft,” DiFiore said.

“Businesses have enough to deal with without the added costs and complications of the widespread and systematic fraud that was perpetrated by this company and these individuals solely for their personal gain.”

The Westchester County Police arrested the defendants on Tuesday morning. Bail for the elder Leggio and DiSalvo was set at $50,000 cash or $500,000 bond. The younger Leggio’s bail was set at $10,000 cash or bond. They are due back in Briarcliff Manor Village Court on Wednesday, facing a maximum of 15 years in prison.

“Illegal conduct in the carting industry can result in increased costs to businesses, consumers and taxpayers,” Astorino stated. “The Solid Waste Commission and its law enforcement partners are working to ensure that all companies operate within the bounds of the law.” 

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