Lake Worth-area liquor store owner sentenced to 18 months in prison on tax-evasion charge
A 60-year-old Lake Worth Beach-area liquor store owner was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Thursday after admitting he shaved nearly $500,000 off his federal income taxes.
Ajay Kumar, owner of Tri County Discount Liquor on South Military Trail, underreported store sales by about $1.7 million from 2015 to 2018, federal prosecutors said. That allowed him to avoid paying about $481,000 in taxes, they said.
For subscribers: Jury’s question: Was Corey Johnson sane when he fatally stabbed 13-year-old at sleepover?
For subscribers: U.S. Judge Robin Rosenberg should have pulled out of FPL case due to husband's stock buy, court says
For subscribers: Delray Beach man known for mobster past accused of pocketing $3.8 million in Medicare fraud
As part of his sentence, Kumar was ordered to pay the government the money it was owed, according to court records.
Undercover IRS agents uncovered Kumar’s tax evasion scheme in December 2019 by posing as business people who were interested in buying the store. Kumar told them he used two income-reporting systems, they said.
Cash sales were recorded separately and not reported to his tax accountant, federal agents said. Kumar showed them cash register tapes where the cash sales were logged, they said.
Kumar pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion in June.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tax evasion gets Lake Worth area liquor store 18 month prison sentence
