A Shelton developer who served four years in a federal prison after being swept up in an FBI corruption probe is under federal scrutiny again.
The Internal Revenue Service asked a federal judge this month to compel Botti’s wife, Laura Testani, to appear at its Norwalk offices.
The IRS agent, Sarah Davidson, is investigating Botti’s tax liability from 2007 and 2008 and had earlier this year asked Testani to “produce for examination books, papers, records or other data,” as well as bank statements and checks from September 2014 to February 2015 regarding Botti’s liability.
Testani did not produce the records requested, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Soloway said in a court document filed July 1.
At a hearing last Tuesday (July 21), Judge Stefan Underhill ordered Testani to appear at the IRS’ Norwalk office Aug. 11 at 10 a.m.
The judge’s order is posted below.
Botti ran afoul of federal agents investigating alleged corruption in Shelton among government officials and city employees — or, “greasing the wheel,” as a prosecutor called it.
Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti was a target in the probe, according to the feds, but he was never charged and denied involvement.
The investigation resulted in the convictions of developer Robert Scinto for lying to the FBI and former Shelton building official Eliot Wilson for lying to a grand jury about accepting cash and gifts from people doing business with the city.
Botti was convicted in 2010 of mail fraud and hiding financial transactions connected to his local business dealings.
He is on federal probation, and returned to the public eye last month in connection to the redevelopment of the former Crabtree auto dealerships on Bridgeport Avenue, in which he is a partner.
The latest developments were first reported by the Connecticut Post Wednesday.
Botti’s lawyer in the Crabtree development, Dominick Thomas, told the Post the recent filings have “nothing to do with the prior criminal cases.”
“They (the IRS) are simply trying to determine the final payment sum,” Thomas told the Post. “He already has made several substantial payments.”
