TRENTON
– Attorney General Stuart Rabner announced
that a Hudson County businessman was ordered
today to pay more than $500,000 to the state
Division of Taxation as a condition of his
sentence for cheating the state out of taxes
owed by his gas station and trucking companies.
Superior
Court Judge Kevin G. Callahan sentenced
Manuel Mier, 50, of Hillside, to five years
of probation, conditioned on him serving
364 days in county jail and paying the Division
of Taxation $523,385 in unpaid taxes, interest
and penalties. The judge said Mier could
be ordered to serve the five years in prison
if he does not make full payment. Mier brought
a $300,000 check to court today and must
make regular payments until the amount is
paid in full.
Mier’s
jail time will run concurrently with a six-month
federal sentence imposed last month as a
result of his 2002 guilty plea to charges
of conspiring to extort money for the protection
of illegal gambling and evading bank reporting
requirements. Mier was charged in the high-profile
federal investigation that sent businessman
Rene Abreu and former West New York Police
Chief Alexander Oriente to prison.
Mier
pleaded guilty on Jan. 29, 2005 to charges
of failure to file New Jersey motor fuel
tax returns and failure to turn over taxes.
Mier admitted that he cheated the state
out of $277,000 in tax revenues. The balance
of the amount that the judge ordered Mier
to pay is interest and penalties. The charges
resulted from a joint investigation by the
Division of Taxation and the Division of
Criminal Justice.
“We
will continue to work with the Division
of Taxation to ensure that business owners
who deliberately cheat the state and its
citizens out of tax monies are prosecuted
and required to pay their fair share,”
said Attorney General Rabner.
“This
case shows our commitment to enforcing compliance
in all areas of state tax collection,”
Division of Taxation Deputy Director Maureen
Adams said. “This sentencing and the
payment today of $300,000 to the state should
serve as a deterrent to people who think
they can avoid and evade paying taxes they
rightfully owe.”
The
joint-agency investigation determined that
Mier failed to file returns for and remit
$95,909 in motor fuel taxes collected through
the sale of gasoline and diesel fuels at
his service station in North Bergen, 76
Tonnelle Friendly Service LTD, from September
1997 through February 2000. Additionally,
the state’s accusation charged that
Mier and his wife had an ownership interest
in two waste disposal trucking companies
located in North Bergen and Newark –
Leticia, Inc. and L&M Services, Inc.
– which failed to remit more than
$181,199 in state use taxes.
The
investigation was coordinated by the Division
of Taxation Office of Criminal Investigation
and the Division of Criminal Justice - Financial
Crimes Bureau. Supervising Deputy Attorney
General Terrence Hull of the Division of
Criminal Justice - Financial Crimes Bureau
prosecuted the case. The investigation was
conducted by State Investigator Scott Romanowski
of the Division of Criminal Justice - Major
Financial Crimes Bureau along with Agent
Frank Papp and Assistant Chief Richard Mawer
of the Division of Taxation Office of Criminal
Investigation.
Citizens
with information about unscrupulous tax
preparers, or any type of tax fraud, are
encouraged to contact the New Jersey Division
of Taxation’s “Citizens Against
Tax Cheats or CATCH” program. The
hotline number is: 609-292-6400.
Information can also be mailed to the New
Jersey Division of Taxation, 50 Barrack
Street, P.O. Box 190, Trenton, NJ 08695-0190,
Attention: Citizens Against Tax Cheats.
|