A New York man who owned several auto body shops in East Islip was sentenced in June for grand larceny after admitting to sales tax fraud, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced.
Brian Soltan, 62, of West Islip, pleaded guilty in September 2019 to a felony charge of third-degree grand larceny. He admitted to failing to report about $2.8 million in sales between January 2011 and November 2015, resulting in $245,000 in unpaid sales taxes.
The sales were from several businesses Soltan owned in East Islip, including Long Island Auto Body, Inc., Long Island Auto Collision, Inc., Long Island Towing & Auto Body, Inc., Long Island Towing & Collision, Inc., East Islip’s Auto Collision, Inc., East Islip Collision, Inc. and High End Collision, Inc.
Soltan was required to pay $250,000 in restitution before his sentencing.
A second New York business owner, Gerald McCrystal, 51, of Dix Hills, was sentenced for a felony charge of fourth-degree grand larceny for a similar crime.
McCrystal failed to report nearly $9 million in sales between February 2008 and November 2015 from his Farmingdale-based furniture stores, including Levetz, Inc., Roma Fli Corporation and Roma New York, Inc., resulting in $745,000 in unpaid sales taxes. McCrystal was required to pay $745,000 in restitution.
“The deliberate theft of tax dollars is a serious offense that undermines the integrity of our tax system and places an unfair burden on law-abiding citizens and businesses. Both defendants collected sales tax from customers, fraudulently underreported taxable sales on dozens of returns, and then failed remit that money to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance,” said Tierney. “These cases serve as clear reminders that tax fraud will not be tolerated, and those who attempt to cheat the system will be held accountable for their actions.”
