11-12-04 -- Axelrod, Herbert -- Arraignment -- News Release

Former Owner of a Pet Supply Company Arraigned on Scheme to Shield Income from the IRS

TRENTON - Herbert Axelrod, the former owner of a Neptune City business that distributed pet products and published pet care books and materials, was arraigned on Count Two of a federal Indictment today charging aiding and abetting the filing of a false tax return by the company’s former vice president, U. S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Axelrod, 77, of Deal, the former owner and director of T.F.H. Publications, Inc. (T.F.H.), was arraigned only on Count Two of the two-count Indictment. A court in Germany has not yet extradited the defendant on Count One, which charges conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service. At the arraignment hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Guadagno told U.S. District Judge Garrett E. Brown, Jr., that additional information and documentation is being supplied to the German court to support Axelrod’s extradition on Count One.

Axelrod failed to appear at a previously scheduled arraignment hearing on April 21, 2004 before Judge Brown. At that hearing, it was learned that Axelrod had fled to Cuba for the purpose of avoiding prosecution. As a result, Judge Brown issued a warrant for his arrest.

On June 15, Axelrod was arrested by German authorities as he arrived at the Tegel Airport in Berlin on a flight from Zurich, Switzerland. The U.S. Attorney’s Office successfully sought to have Axelrod extradited pursuant to international treaty. Axelrod arrived back in the United States on Wednesday, Nov. 10.

At the arraignment hearing before Judge Brown today, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Guadagno apprised the court and the defendant of the charges contained in Count Two of the Indictment. Assistant U.S. Attorney Guadagno also requested Judge Brown to have the defendant detained pending trial. The defendant’s attorneys waived their client’s right to a detention hearing. Judge Brown, citing the defendant’s risk of flight, ordered the defendant to be held without bail.

Judge Brown scheduled a motions hearing date for Dec.21 and a trial date of March 1, 2005.

If convicted of Count Two, the defendant faces a maximum of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Guadagno.

Under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Judge Brown would, upon conviction, determine the actual sentence based upon a formula that takes into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, and the defendant’s criminal history, if any.

The Indictment and an April 13 press release regarding that Indictment are available on the U.S. Attorney’s Office web site at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nj/publicaffairs/index.html

Despite Indictment, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

Christie credited Special Agents of the IRS Criminal Investigation section, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Patricia J. Haynes; the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Joseph Billy Jr., and Postal Inspectors of the Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Postal Inspector in Charge Martin D. Phanco, with developing the investigation resulting in the charges.

The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Guadagno and Joan Thomas of the Criminal Division of the U. S. Attorney’s Office in Trenton.

Defense Attorneys: Michael Himmel, Esq. Roseland

Robert Kipnees, Esq. Roseland