Fabian Delgado, 34, pleaded guilty this week to third-degree grand larceny and offering a false instrument for filing after prosecutors accused him of diverting more than $260,000 intended for a Patchogue auto repair shop’s state tax bill. Delgado, a Bellport man who prepared the shop’s taxes, admitted to the charges. Prosecutors said the owner believed the taxes were being paid in full.
Reporting by longisland.com says Delgado worked as the shop’s tax preparer from 2021 to 2025. He prepared quarterly returns that understated the business’s gross sales to New York State, then used the shop’s bank account to pay the reduced tax amounts, according to the report.
Sixteen Transactions, One Owner Kept In the Dark
The owner believed withdrawals from the business account were paying the shop’s state tax obligations, prosecutors said. The News12 Long Island report puts the total taken across 16 transactions at $260,687.22.
The News12 report says Delgado used the money for personal expenses, including mortgage and credit-card bills, airplane tickets, food, personal income taxes and OnlyFans subscriptions.
Partial Repayment, Consecutive Jail Terms Ahead
Delgado has repaid $56,000, the News12 account reports, and is expected to owe the remaining $204,687 as part of his sentence. He is expected to receive 364 days in jail on each of the two charges, with the terms served consecutively. Delgado is due back in court on January 28, 2027.
New York guidance for businesses and preparers
The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance says tax return preparers generally must register annually, subject to listed exemptions. The state also says a registered preparer’s city and state are publicly viewable in its Registered Tax Preparer Database on Open Data New York. The Tax Department says a business’s responsible person may remain personally responsible for sales tax even when an employee or accountant handles it. Businesses can use a Business Online Services account to view filing and payment history, according to the department’s sales-tax guidance and its Business Online Services information.
Delgado's case lands amid a string of tax-preparer prosecutions across the region this year. In Yonkers, preparer Joseph Clay admitted falsifying returns over a five-year period, a scheme that nydailyrecord.com reports cost the federal and state governments nearly $6 million in unpaid taxes, built on more than 3,500 returns filed between 2018 and 2023. Federal prosecutors have also pursued other Long Island preparers, including a former Freeport tax preparer sentenced to 48 months in prison in a scheme involving nearly $12 million, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office initially accused Delgado of falsifying sales-tax returns and stealing money intended for the shop’s New York State tax obligations. The case is scheduled to return to court in January for sentencing; more than $200,000 remains to be repaid.
