Salesman Of Roofing Company In South Jersey Admits Filing False Income Tax Returns

TRENTON, N.J. – A salesman for a South Jersey roofing company, pleaded guilty today to filing false income tax returns for 2007 and 2008, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman, District of New Jersey, and Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the U.S. Department of Justice, announced.

Keith Brown, a salesman for Kenal (d/b/a Ken Morton Roofing and Siding) a residential roofing company located in Pitman, N.J., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with filing false income tax returns for tax years 2007 and 2008.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From early 2007 through the end of 2008, Brown received 10 percent commission on each roofing job that he sold. A portion of this commission was paid to him by payroll check, the amounts of which were reported on his W-2 forms, Wage and Tax Statements. Brown, however, received the majority of his commissions in cash, which were not reported on the W-2s issued to him. Brown failed to report the cash portion of his commissions when he filed his tax returns for tax years 2007 and 2008.

For the 2007 and 2008 tax years, Brown had unreported income of $236,302 and $278,453, respectively.  The result of Brown’s filing false tax returns caused a loss to the IRS of $141,382.  

The tax charge to which Brown pleaded guilty is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of three years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and restitution to the IRS.  Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 4, 2014.

Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division Keneally and U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of IRS B Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Shantelle P. Kitchen, for their work in the investigation of the case.

The government is represented by Tax Division Trial Attorneys Jessica Moran and Tino Lisella.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/tax.

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Defense counsel: Bruce Cassidy Esq., Princeton, N.J.

Brown, Keith Information