North Tonawanda Business Owner Pleads Guilty To Tax Fraud

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
PHONE:         (716) 843-5817
FAX:            (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y.-Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that David B. Schmitt, 64, of North Tonawanda, NY, pleaded guilty to tax evasion before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant owned and operated delivery businesses known as Three Kids Trucking Inc., and 1553 Harlem Road Inc. Between February 2010 and June 2013, while Schmitt owned and operated these businesses, he willfully attempted to evade and defeat the payment of a large part of federal employment taxes owed by 1553 Harlem Road Inc. The defendant did so by filing false forms with the IRS, having nominees open bank accounts to conduct business for the corporation and created a fraudulent trust for one of the corporations. The total loss to the IRS exceeded $500,000.

The plea is the result of an investigation by Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Shantelle P. Kitchen, Special Agent in Charge.

Sentencing is scheduled for February 8, 2017 at 10:30 a.m. before Judge Wolford.