By Alex Davidson
The owner of a used car dealership in Richmond Hill convicted of falsifying business records has been sentenced to five years' probation and forced to pay back $2.1 million in liabilities and back taxes, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Seechand Singh, 57, of Baldwin, N.Y., the owner and manager of Six Stars Auto Sales at 133-17 Liberty Ave., had been convicted of changing his financial records to cover up taxes he owed to the state during a 30-month period between 1996 and 1999, Brown said.
A spokeswoman from the district attorney's office did not know when Singh had earlier been convicted for falsifying his business records. She did say, however, that his conviction and subsequent payments were part of a plea bargain with the Queens district attorney.
“The defendant has admitted his guilt and has restored the full $1,274,650 that he failed to pay to the state and city in sales and income taxes due,” Brown said. “The criminal prosecution and related civil proceedings have resulted in a substantial recovery of millions of vitally needed dollars for the benefit of all New Yorkers.”
The district attorney said Singh has also paid back approximately $825,000 in penalties and interest relating to back taxes. Brown said Singh had failed to pay sales and income tax on about 1,800 cars that his firm sold and on income he earned between September 1996 and February 1999.
Brown said an audit by the Revenue Crimes Unit of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance discovered that Singh had collected more than $1 million in sales tax from used car buyers but had only paid $76,000 in state taxes. A separate audit also showed the defendant owed $71,124 in back personal income taxes, he said.
Reach reporter Alex Davidson by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or by phone at 1-718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
