Leading Calif. Company Pleads Guilty to Evasion
The owner of Oxnard, Calif.-based Haas Automation pleaded guilty this afternoon to a federal conspiracy charge related to a scheme in which tens of million of dollars in bogus expenses were put on the company’s books during a two-year period in an attempt to avoid the payment of more than $34 million in federal income taxes.Gene Francis Haas, 54, of Camarillo, pleaded guilty to the felony charge, agreeing to serve a 24-month jail sentence.
As part of the plea agreement filed last Friday, Haas agreed to pay $34.2 million in back taxes for the years 2000 and 2001, as well as a $5 million fine. With statutory penalties and interest on the back taxes, Haas owes more than $70 million to the government.
“Tax evasion is not a victimless crime,” stated Debra D. King, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Los Angeles. Honest, hardworking Americans pay the price when others choose to evade their tax obligations.”
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