October 26, 10

NEWS / Man Sentenced to Prison for Stealing Over $79,000 in Sales Taxes He Collected at Used Car Dealership

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.

http://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases10/pr20101025a.html

Tags: criminal investigation,