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TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that a man was sentenced to prison
today for failing to pay the state thousands
of dollars in sales taxes he collected from
customers at his car dealership in Toms
River.
According
to Director Taylor, Anthony Foti, 55, of
Ogdensburg, N.Y., formerly of Brick, N.J.,
was sentenced to five years in state prison
by Superior Court Judge Gerald J. Council
in Mercer County. He was also ordered to
pay $192,017, including $79,347 in sales
taxes he failed to remit to the state, $92,239
in interest, and a $23,931 penalty, minus
$3,500 previously paid as restitution. Foti
pleaded guilty on Oct. 4 to theft by failure
to make a required disposition of property
and purposely failing to remit sales taxes,
both second-degree offenses. The charges
were contained in a Sept. 2, 2008 indictment.
Deputy
Attorney General Denise Grugan prosecuted
the case for the Division of Criminal Justice
Major Crimes Bureau and represented the
state at the sentencing.
In
pleading guilty, Foti admitted that he failed
to remit to the state $79,347 in sales taxes
that he collected from customers at his
used car dealership, An-Jo Car Company Inc.
on Route 9 in Toms River, between 2000 and
2004. Foti sold the business in July 2004.
Foti was on probation at the time. He was
convicted in 2000 of third-degree theft
by failure to make required disposition
of property received for failing to remit
New Jersey sales taxes from An-Jo for the
years 1996 through 1999. He was sentenced
to five years probation and paid $100,000
in restitution to the state in the prior
case.
Charges
remain pending against Foti’s son,
Anthony Foti Jr., 27, of Toms River, who
was also charged on Sept. 2, 2008 in a separate
indictment. The son is a fugitive. The son
allegedly failed to remit to the state approximately
$37,211 that he collected from customers
of his used car dealership, Wheels Are Us,
between 2006 and 2008. The business was
initially located in Asbury Park, but was
moved to Route 35 in Middletown. The business
closed in May 2008. Foti Jr. allegedly failed
to file quarterly sales and use tax returns
with the state for the quarters ending March
31, 2006 through March 31, 2008.
The
charges stem from an investigation by the
state Division of Taxation. It was conducted
by Auditor Kerry Czymek of the Division
of Taxation Office of Criminal Investigation.
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