Joseph Cammarata, previously convicted of wire fraud and money laundering, faces new criminal charges for tax fraud stemming from his involvement with Alpha Plus Recovery LLC. The indictment unsealed September 22 details a scheme allegedly operating from 2015 to 2020.

Alpha Plus Recovery LLC, incorporated in New Jersey on August 21, 2014, purported to aggregate claims for individuals and institutions seeking recovery from securities fraud class action settlements. Cammarata, alongside Erik Cohen and David Punturieri, owned, operated, and managed the company. Cammarata held signatory authority over Alpha Plus' bank accounts.

The indictment alleges Cammarata used three shell companies—Nimello Holding LLC, Quartis Trade and Investment LLC, and Inversiones Invergasa SAS—to submit false and fraudulent claims to administrators in SEC recovery cases. Funds obtained through these alleged bogus claims were then laundered through TD Bank accounts held under the names PB Trade LLC and Misc Holdings Corp. Cammarata controlled these accounts.

From May 2015 to August 2021, Cammarata allegedly used funds from the PB Trade LLC TD Bank account for personal expenses. This included withdrawing $530,880 in cash from that account between May 2015 and February 2020. He also laundered money through a PB Trade LLC brokerage account at Merrill Lynch. Between February 2016 and July 2021, Cammarata transferred funds from the PB Trade LLC TD Bank account to a personal TD Bank account he shared with his wife.

In total, Cammarata allegedly obtained more than $18 million through these fraudulent Alpha Plus client claims. The Department of Justice contends that from January 2015 to October 2020, Cammarata used funds from the PB Trade LLC and Misc Holdings accounts to pay over $4 million in personal expenses.

The DOJ asserts that by using these corporate accounts, Cammarata willfully attempted to evade and defeat a substantial portion of the income tax owed by him and his wife for the years 2015 through 2019. The indictment lists specific amounts allegedly withheld from the IRS: $1.7 million in 2015, $2.5 million in 2016, $4.8 million in 2017, $3.5 million in 2018, and $3.3 million in 2019. Cammarata faces multiple counts of tax fraud.