Chairman Of Woodland Park, N.J., Democratic Committee Admits Bribing An IRS Official

CAMDEN, N.J. – The chairman of the Woodland Park, N.J., Democratic Committee admitted today that he bribed two individuals he thought were IRS officials so that he could eliminate his tax debt, U.S. Attorney Fishman announced.

Michael Kazmark, 60, of Woodland Park pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle in Camden federal court to an information charging him with one count of bribing a federal public official in exchange for official action. He admitted making $18,500 in corrupt payments.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made during Kazmark’s guilty plea proceeding:

Kazmark failed to pay federal income taxes from 1997 through 2005. In 2010, Kazmark owed the IRS $98,046 in unpaid federal income taxes, interest and penalties. On April 18, 2010, Kazmark made an application to the IRS for an offer in compromise, requesting that he pay $48,800 to the IRS in order to settle his entire federal tax debt.

On Oct. 5, 2010, Kazmark paid a $1,000 bribe to two individuals he thought were IRS officials in exchange for their official assistance in transferring his offer in compromise file to one of the officials so that the official could accept it. On Nov. 23, 2010, Kazmark made a $17,500 bribe payment to the individuals in exchange for their official assistance in placing his federal tax liability in noncollectible status for two years and agreeing to accept Kazmark’s offer in compromise for the amount of the check that he had already paid to the IRS – $9,760 – if he did not incur any additional federal tax liability for two years.

The count to which Kazmark pleaded guilty is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, twice the aggregate loss to victims or gain to the defendant, or three times the amount of the bribe payments. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 28, 2013.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford, and special agents of the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Robert Geary, for the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.

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Defense counsel: Miles Feinstein Esq., Clifton, N.J.

Kazmark Information