The Guardian Angels, which Sliwa based in 1979 and nonetheless controls as CEO, hasn’t filed a 990 Type with the U.S. Inside Income Service since 2019, the IRS’s publicly accessible nonprofit database reveals. In that database, the group’s authorized enterprise identify is listed as Alliance of Guardian Angels, Inc.
The 990 Type is the equal of a tax return for a charitable group, and because of the Guardian Angels’ failure to file 990s three years in a row, the IRS revoked its tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charity designation in November 2022, per a discover included on the group’s profile within the database.
The revocation got here a 12 months after Rafael Alvarez, the Guardian Angels’ now-former treasurer, landed in bother with the U.S. Division of Justice, which pressured his accounting agency, ATAX, to shutter completely in 2021 on account of a suspicion he was submitting fraudulent returns for purchasers — a case that finally resulted in Alvarez pleading responsible to prison fees.
Regardless of the charity standing, the Guardian Angels has continued to explain itself as a 501(c)(3) group on its web site, together with on a web page the place it’s asking supporters for cash.
“The Alliance of Guardian Angels is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization founded in 1979 in New York City,” a banner reads on the web page soliciting contributions by way of a giant crimson “donate” button that sends supporters to a PayPal web page in the event that they click on it. “Our mission is to provide positive role models for today’s youth and work toward promoting community safety and betterment for the good of society overall.”
Screenshots from the Guardian Angels web site. (Guardian Angels)
In keeping with authorized consultants, falsely portraying a bunch as a 501(c)(3) can lead to fines and even prison fees, particularly if the misrepresentation entails the solicitation of donations. Taxpayers who donate to nonprofit charities who’ve misplaced their 501(c)(3) standing can, in flip, additionally find yourself getting in bother with the IRS in the event that they declare their contributions as tax deductible.
“When a charitable nonprofit is no longer recognized as tax-exempt, it will be required to pay income taxes on revenue, including donations, and donors will no longer be able to deduct contributions to the organization,” in keeping with the Nationwide Council of Nonproifts.
IRS’ press workplace didn’t instantly return a request for remark this week.
Along with the IRS delinquencies, the Guardian Angels hasn’t submitted tax filings with the New York state lawyer normal’s workplace as required since 2019, an AG spokeswoman confirmed. The spokeswoman wouldn’t remark additional, however the AG’s workplace usually works with delinquent nonprofits to attempt to get them into compliance earlier than taking any enforcement motion.
Sliwa’s marketing campaign referred inquiries to Mario Kranjac, an lawyer for the Guardian Angels, who blamed the submitting failures on Alvarez, who served because the group’s treasurer for over a decade and was personally pleasant with Sliwa.
Kranjac stated the Guardian Angels believed all tax returns had been filed correctly by Alvarez.
“Curtis Sliwa had no involvement in financial filings,” stated Kranjac, an ex-mayor of Englewood, N.J. who mounted an unsuccessful Republican bid for governor of the state this 12 months. “The Guardian Angels are allowed to continue operating and are taking steps to correct the issue with counsel.”
The tax troubles involving the Guardian Angels, whose members have been identified for doing avenue and subway “safety patrols,” are rising as Sliwa is gearing up his GOP bid for mayor forward of November’s election.
The revelations concerning the tax submitting failures — and beforehand unreported particulars about Alvarez’s function within the Guardian Angels’ funds — may forged a shadow over Sliwa as he campaigns closely on an anti-corruption message. It additionally raises questions on how, as mayor, Sliwa would handle a metropolis with an annual funds of $116 billion, along with his personal marketing campaign, which simply on Wednesday obtained $1.9 million in public matching funds.
Alvarez served because the Guardian Angels’ treasurer between 2010 and 2024, per his LinkedIn profile.
An lawyer for Alvarez — who’s at the moment in jail — didn’t say why he stopped submitting the group’s taxes in 2019. The lawyer, Michael Bachrach, did say he wasn’t positive whether or not Alvarez ever filed fraudulent tax kinds for the Guardian Angels.
“There were over 80,000 tax returns disclosed in discovery in that case, some fraudulent and other perfectly lawful,” stated Bachrach. “I don’t recall whether Guardian Angels were amongst them.”
When Alvarez had his agency shuttered by the feds in June 2021, he was already beneath prison investigation by the DOJ over suspicions he had helped purchasers file tax returns with the IRS claiming fraudulent deductions for fictitious charity donations, medical prices and different bills with a view to decrease their tax burdens, in keeping with his indictment and different filings made in his case.
In April 2024, the Manhattan U.S. lawyer’s workplace indicted Alvarez on fees alleging he had orchestrated a sprawling tax fraud scheme between 2010 and 2020 — spanning the interval when he was dealing with the Guardian Angels’ books — through which he and his agency stole $145 million from the IRS.
His indictment alleged Alvarez was generally known as “The Magician” amongst his purchasers due to the superior strategies he used to defraud the IRS.
This spring, Alvarez was sentenced to 4 years in jail, ordered to forfeit greater than $11 million and pay, along with any purchasers recognized as having participated within the scheme, $145 million in restitution to the U.S. authorities.
Alvarez’s indictment doesn’t establish his purchasers, however prosecutors wrote in courtroom papers this spring a few of them are being made to pay years’ price of again taxes.
The Guardian Angels, which as a 501(c)(3) was exempt from most — however not all — federal and state taxes, isn’t referenced in Alvarez’s indictment and hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing.
Sliwa and Alvarez return personally, and he has through the years overvalued Alvarez’s enterprise many occasions on the radio. Talking on his discuss radio present in 2012, Sliwa known as Alvarez “my very cumpà,” Italian slang that interprets to shut good friend, and instructed listeners in want of tax assist: “You need to talk to a professional, and the best is Rafael Alvarez.”
Sliwa’s group additionally gave Alvarez its coveted “Red Beret Award” in 2011.
On the marketing campaign path, Sliwa has vowed to show the web page on the dysfunction and corruption he argues has marred Mayor Adams’ time at Metropolis Corridor, pointing to the incumbent’s federal bribery indictment, which was quashed this spring by President Trump’s DOJ as a part of a controversial association.
Sliwa ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2021, clinching about 28% in comparison with the 67% obtained by Adams, the Democratic mayoral nominee in that race.
Sliwa’s seen as having a greater shot this 12 months, as the town’s Democratic vote may very well be fractured by the truth that, along with Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, Adams and Andrew Cuomo are operating on impartial strains on the November poll. Lawyer Jim Walden is on an impartial line as nicely.
Mamdani continues to ballot as the favourite to win the November contest, with most surveys predicting Cuomo because the runner-up candidate. Sliwa has in plenty of polls positioned third, pulling extra help than Adams.
Initially Printed: August 5, 2025 at 1:40 PM EDT
