Allege Movers Cheated MTA Out of $250G With Phony Invoices

The operators of a Long Island moving company have been indicted on charges of stealing more than a quarter of a million dollars from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority through falsified fees.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has arrested Robert Villano and Roxann Nelson, the owners of Roselli Movers, and charged that the couple swindled the MTA with inflated fees. The company had done moving work for the authority since 1996 and received four contracts totaling up to $6.4 million.

Phantom Moves

"Today's indictment charges that during the period of January 2006 and June 2008, the defendants, in addition to providing actual moving services for the Transit Authority, also submitted 11 invoices which falsely claimed they had performed moving work for the Transit Authority when in fact they did not," a DA's Office statement said. "The Transit Authority paid the defendants $258,000 on these false invoices."

The pair was charged with Grand Larceny in the second degree and 11 counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing.

If convicted, they could each serve up to 19 years in prison.