28 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 2, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Armored truck
driver tried to
make milliondollar
scheme
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com
@robbpoz
An armored truck driver
from Howard Beach is out of
jail aft er being charged with
allegedly trying to steal a bag
containing $1.6 million in
Long Island City, prosecutors
announced on July 26.
Riguerson Avril, 37, of 85th
Street wound up in handcuff
s on July 24 on fi rst- and
second-degree grand larceny
charges, along with additional
counts of criminal possession
of stolen property.
According to Queens
District Attorney Richard
A. Brown, Avril was allegedly
seen on security camera
removing the money bag
from a pallet in the vicinity of
Vernon Boulevard and Fift h
Street in Long Island City at 10
p.m. on July 23.
Aft er removing the bag,
police said, Avril allegedly
kicked it underneath a delivery
truck. He later told police
that he “moved the money off
the top, dropped it and kicked
it under the truck. I wanted to
see if anyone would notice.”
Law enforcement sources
said that Avril, aft er initially
shoving the bag under the
truck, retrieved it, covered it
with his rain jacket and then
walked back to his personal
vehicle. Th ere he “ripped the
bag and put the money into a
suitcase” that he later provided
to a friend for temporary
safe-keeping, prosecutors said.
Avril showed up for work
the next day, July 24, where
police were waiting for him
and took him into custody following
questioning. Detectives
later recovered all but $10,000
of the pilfered cash from a
location in Philadelphia.
“Th e defendant allegedly
took advantage of his access to
enrich himself,” Brown said.
“He returned to work the following
day as if nothing was
amiss. If the allegations are
proven true, Avril will face a
long term of incarceration as a
result of his greed.”
Court records indicated that
Avril was arraigned on July
25 in Queens Criminal Court,
then released under supervision.
He’s scheduled to return
to court on Aug. 21. If convicted
of all charges, he could
spend up to 25 years in prison.
LIRR expanding F.H., Kew Gdns. platforms
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
Th e Long Island Rail Road (LIRR)
announced that they have plans to increase
the length of the platforms at the Forest
Hills and Kew Gardens LIRR stations.
Th e platforms at each station currently
allows the fi rst four cars of a train onto
the platforms. Th e new length will allow
each station to accommodate the fi rst six
train cars.
“We’re committed to improving conditions
for our Queens customers, and
this will make boarding and exiting trains
less congested, faster and more pleasant
at both stations,” said Phillip Eng, LIRR
president. “We’re taking a new, expedited
approach, making improvements quickly
to current needs with lower cost yet sturdy
materials, while we evaluate a longer-term,
permanent solution.”
Currently, the average weekday ridership
at Forest Hills and Kew Gardens stations
are 1,967 passengers and 1,778, respectively.
Both stations have two side platforms
north and south of the tracks, and extending
both platforms at each station by 200
feet is expected to help reduce crowding
and delays as well as allowing trains to to
exit the stations more easily.
“With the high ridership at these stations,
we are experiencing train delays as customers
must walk from car to car to be able
to reach a door at a platform,” Eng said.
“Because these two stations are at a busy section
of the railroad, those delays can cause
trains behind to be delayed as well. Longer
platforms should speed up our main line
service for all customers traveling between
Penn Station and Jamaica.”
Preparation for work at each station is
expected to start this week. Temporary
construction-related changes at each station
will be announced as the start of construction
approaches. All work on each
platform will be performed by LIRR personnel
and staff is currently analyzing the
project to fi nd a completion date and cost.
Photo: Wikipedia Commons/DanTD
“It is great to see that the Long Island
Rail Road is taking active measures to safely
help speed up trips for the thousands
of residents that use the LIRR on a daily
basis in Forest Hills and Kew Gardens,”
said state Senator Joseph P. Addabbo. “By
extending the platforms at these two stations,
passengers will have an easier egress
off of the train, reducing delays and making
a better trip for everyone. I look forward
to seeing the fi nal results once construction
is fi nished.”
Former LIC car dealer execs guilty of tax evasion
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
A pair of former senior executives of a
Queens-based car dealership network pleaded
guilty last week to concealing millions of dollars
by fi ling false corporate tax returns nearly
10 years ago.
Harold Bendell, 69 of Englewood Cliff s, New
Jersey, and Bruce Bendell, 64 of Roslyn, Long
Island, pleaded guilty to fi ling a false corporate
tax return for the calendar year 2009. Both men
face three years in prison at sentencing.
Th e Bendells were the former senior managers
of Major Automotive Companies Inc., aka
Major World in Long Island City, which operated
car dealerships in Queens and throughout
the metropolitan area. According to charges,
on or about Aug. 10, 2010, both defendants
fi led a corporation tax return Form 1120 for
the calendar year 2009 that failed to report
approximately $1,417,814 in gross receipts
that Major Automotive had received.
Th e returns also failed to report approximately
$2,116,000 in cash payroll expense for
which Major Automotive did not pay payroll
taxes.
Prior to pleading guilty, the defendants paid
over $3,888,267 in restitution to the Internal
Revenue Service and resigned from Major
World.
“By their pleas, Harold and Bruce Bendell
admitted that they concealed millions of dollars
of their company’s income and avoided
paying their fair share of taxes to the United
States government,” stated United States
Attorney Richard P. Donoghue. “Th is offi ce
and our law enforcement partners will continue
to work together to ensure that individuals
who attempt to evade their responsibilities as
taxpayers are held responsible.”
Bruce Bendell is known to be active in
the Queens community. Bendell has served
as a past director of the Queens Chamber
of Commerce and on the boards of the
Long Island City Business Development
Corporation and the Long Island City Lions
Club. He was also a member of the Queens
District Attorney’s Business Advisory Council
Photo: Shutterstock
and a trustee of the New York Hospital
Medical Center of Queens.
Th is is also not Major World’s fi rst run-in
with the law. In March 2017, the Department
of Consumer Aff airs (DCA) announced that
they were seeking more than $2 million in
consumer restitution and fi nes from three
of the dealer’s Queens locations for infl ating
prices, falsifying consumer credit applications
and deceptively targeting low-income
and immigrant communities. In December of
that same year, the DCA increased the fi nes to
$36.5 million.
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