June 24, 10

NEWS / Owners of Warren County Paving Company Sentenced to Prison for Failing To Turn Over More Than $200,0

TRENTON - Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that a Warren County man and his girlfriend were sentenced to prison today for failing to turn over $207,000 in state payroll taxes on behalf of the employees of their paving company.

According to Director Taylor, Christopher Nemeth, 42, of Stewartsville, was sentenced to four years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Edward M. Neafsey in Mercer County. Nemeth’s girlfriend, Marisol Garcia, 39, also of Stewartsville, was sentenced to three years in prison.

Nemeth and Garcia each pleaded guilty on March 10 to second-degree misapplication of entrusted property and property of government and third-degree failure to remit payroll taxes.
Nemeth and Garcia are required to pay the State of New Jersey $368,807, which includes the back payroll taxes owed by their company, Nemeth Enterprises Inc., with penalties and interest.

Nemeth and Garcia were indicted in December 2007 by the Division of Criminal Justice Major Crimes Bureau as a result of a state investigation by the Department of Labor and the Division of Taxation. Deputy Attorney General Denise Grugan prosecuted the case for the Division of Criminal Justice and represented the state at the sentencing.

From 1999 through the second quarter of 2007, the defendants, who ran the paving company from the home they shared, failed to pay the state $207,003.57 in payroll taxes. The sum included $62,603.77 collected from employee wages – $40,038.78 in gross income taxes and $22,564.99 in taxes for the state’s unemployment and disability insurance funds (UI/DI taxes) – which the defendants were required to hold in trust until remitted to the state. It also included $144,399.80 in required employer UI/DI taxes. Throughout that period, the defendants failed to file payroll tax returns, which must be filed quarterly with the Division of Taxation, and employer wage reports, which must be filed annually with the Department of Labor.

The case was investigated by Auditor Alison Gruhler of the Department of Labor Division of Employer Accounts and Auditor Kevin Curry of the Division of Taxation Office of Criminal Investigation.

http://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases10/pr20100624b.html

Tags: criminal investigation,