Car dealer owners get prison for tax evasion

POMONA - A father and son operating the Kar-Co Auto Center in Pomona were convicted of felony sales tax evasion, the state's Board of Equalization (BOE) announced last week.A multi-agency investigation led by the BOE found that Jose Carlos Corona and his son, Jose Carlos Corona Jr., failed to report $4.7 million in sales during a 4 1/2 year period, robbing the state of $372,587 in sales taxes, authorities said. On Nov. 9, Corona Jr. pleaded guilty to one count of sales tax evasion, one count of grand theft and one count of income tax evasion. He was sentenced on Jan. 4 to more than three years in prison on a suspended sentence, placed on five years probation and one year in county jail. On Dec. 6, Corona Sr. pleaded guilty to the same charges and was handed a three-year suspended prison sentence, placed on five years probation and ordered to complete 720 hours of community service. Both father and son were ordered to pay full restitution of $372,587. "The Board of Equalization will continue to aggressively investigate and expose tax cheats to ensure that taxes owed to the State of California are collected," said BOE chairman Jerome Horton. "It is our hope that this case will serve as a warning that there are serious consequences for tax evasion."

********** Published: January 19, 2012 - Volume 10 - Issue 40