St. Louis, MO - The United States Attorney’s Office announced today that John Perry was convicted of tax evasion charges for failing to report kickback payments on his federal income taxes.

From 2001 to June 2004, Perry was the Materials, Planning and Logistics Manager for the Ford Assembly Plant in Hazelwood, MO, and was responsible for approving invoices from Ford vendors for expenses related to vehicle transportation and storage.

According to testimony presented at trial, Perry approved false and inflated invoices submitted to Ford by a vendor for transportation and storage expenses. When Ford paid the invoices, the owner of the logistics company paid Perry a kickback. Perry failed to report a large portion of these kickback payments on his federal income tax returns. Perry also participated in an inflated lease scheme for which he received kickbacks. While Perry was employed at Ford, Syms Trucking Company obtained a contract to provide transportation logistics work and yard management at the St. Louis Assembly plant. Perry directed Syms to make payments to him in exchange for allowing Syms to keep its contract with Ford. A large portion of these payments were not reported on his federal income tax returns. From 2001 through 2004, Perry received in excess of $2,000,000 from these schemes, causing a tax loss of more than $600,000.

JOHN PERRY, Vermillion, OH, formerly of Lake St. Louis, MO, was convicted of four felony counts of tax evasion after a six-day trial before United States District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig. Sentencing has been set for May 31, 2012.

Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000. In determining the actual sentences, a Judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Reginald Harris and Steven Muchnick prosecuted the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.