TRENTON, N.J. (Oct. 29, 2002) — The New Jersey Attorney General's office has handed down an eight-count indictment against a former executive with a tire and auto repair business for allegedly cheating the state out of more than $1.2 million in sales and employee withholding taxes.
Peter C. Harvey, New Jersey's first assistant attorney general and director of the Division of Criminal Justice, returned the indictment against John Tredy, 55, of Ringwood, N.J. He was former controller for T & S Tire Service Corp., a retail tire sales and auto repair business that does business as Bergen Tire and has retail shops in Carlstadt and Wayne, N.J.
According to a press release from the attorney general's office, an investigation determined that the owners of the privately held dealership “had entrusted Mr. Tredy with complete financial control of the company” and had no knowledge of the alleged theft of tax revenues. The press release said the owners discharged Mr. Tredy from the controller position once the allegations came to light.
The indictment charges that between June 1994 and August 2000, Mr. Tredy collected and failed to turn over to the state a total of almost $1.1 million in collected sales taxes and $101,000 in employee withholding taxes. As a result of these alleged actions, Bergen Tire paid no state sales or employee withholding taxes during the six-year period, even though the funds were collected.
Additionally, a state grand jury charged in the indictments that, from December 1999 through August 2000, Mr. Tredy “engaged in other acts of theft, including a scheme in which he allegedly obtained more than $300,000 by double-billing scores of Bergen Tire customers by using credit card numbers to double-bill credit companies for services purchased from the dealership's retail stores.
A joint investigation by the state's Division of Criminal Justice and the Division of Taxation determined that Mr. Tredy enlisted the cooperation of Kevin Dolan, 33, an investigator with the Division of Taxation who was charged with official misconduct on June 25 for receiving from Mr. Tredy nearly $10,000 in gifts that included football tickets and free repair services, the attorney general said.
Mr. Dolan pled guilty on June 25 before Bergen County Superior Court Judge Bruce Gaeta. His sentencing has been postponed at the state's request, pending his testimony against Mr. Tredy at trial.
If convicted on all counts, Mr. Tredy could face up to 60 years in state prison and fines of up to $660,000, plus restitution