Indian American entrepreneur in California pleads guilty to filing false tax return

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NEW YORK: An Indian American entrepreneur from Dublin, California, Shiv D. Kumar, 60, pleaded guilty on Friday in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California to filing a false tax return, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Brian Stretch for the Northern District of California.

According to documents filed with the court, Kumar was the sole shareholder and president of A-Paratransit Inc. (API), a company that provided transportation services to disabled individuals.

Kumar filed false corporate returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for tax years 2009 and 2010, which underreported API’s gross receipts by $2,229,216 and $2,412,435, causing a tax loss of $1,584,055, according to the Justice Department.

Kumar deposited API’s receipts into three separate bank accounts held at different banks. To conceal API’s true gross receipts, Kumar provided his accountant with false books and records, which omitted gross receipts that he diverted to two of API’s accounts. Kumar used the unreported funds for personal expenditures, including purchasing property in the Vallejo, California area.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 7, 2017. The statutory maximum sentence for filing a false return is three years in prison. Kumar also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.