Man Is Sentenced In Tax Fraud Scam

A Hempstead real estate broker has been sentenced to a year on probation and community service work after pleading guilty to conspiracy to assist others to file false tax returns.

In addition to probation, William H. Blackmore, 72, of 230 Littleworth Lane, Sea Cliff, must go to a treatment center, which is an alternative to prison for some offenders, and do 100 hours of community service.

U.S. District Court Judge Gerard Goettel sentenced Blackmore in White Plains on Feb. 20. Blackmore, in March, 1989, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of aiding and assisting others to file false and fraudulent tax returns – all felonies. He could have received a maximum of 14 years imprisonment and up to $ 850,000 in fines.

He did not return calls made to his Hempstead office.

Blackmore was accused of conspiring with the Rev. William V. Ischie, pastor of St. German of Alaska Eastern Orthodox Church and abbot of St. John of Rila Eastern Orthodox Monastery, both in Setauket, and others to defraud the federal government of income taxes.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Margaret Smith said yesterday that the scheme involved the placement of an advertisement in publications throughout the United States for donations of hard-to-sell and other properties to an unnamed religious corporation.

Blackmore provided the donor with an appraisal at a value much greater than the fair market value of the donated property, federal prosecutors said. The donor could then write off the property as a charitable contribution. The church or monastery later sold most of the property for a fraction of Blackmore’s appraised price, prosecutors said.

According to federal prosecutors, the scheme was run from 1980 through 1985 and resulted in the filing of about 105 fraudulent personal and corporate tax returns, generating more than $ 4.4 million in tax deductions for the donors of the real estate. Two donors, Michael and Paul Gordon of Albany, were convicted in 1989 of conspiracy and tax evasion for taking inflated tax deductions after donating property outside Utica, authorities said.

On Long Island, St. German’s has received properties and mortgages valued at more than $ 1 million, according to authorities.