South Florida Liquor Store Owner Goes to Federal Prison for Tax Evasion

Miami, Florida – A Lake Worth, Florida man who did not report his liquor store’s cash sales to the IRS was sentenced to 18 months in prison yesterday in federal district court in West Palm Beach for tax evasion.

Ajay Kumar, 60, was the sole officer and registered agent of Kruthi, Inc, a company registered in Florida, and doing business as “Tri County Discount Liquor.”  Kumar reported credit card receipts to his accountant and on Kruthi’s federal income tax returns.  However, Kumar did not report his cash receipts.  As a result, Kruthi’s returns for tax years 2015 through 2018 underreported the liquor store’s gross receipts by approximately $1,718,945.  For those same tax years, Kumar failed to pay approximately $481,304.68 in federal income taxes.

Kumar previously pled guilty to one count of tax evasion.  U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks sentenced Kumar to 18 months in prison. Judge Middlebrooks also ordered Kumar to serve three years of supervised release and to pay a $7,500 fine and $481,304.68 in restitution.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office, announced the sentence.

“Those who underreport taxable earnings violate the integrity of our federal system of taxation,” said U.S. Attorney Gonzalez. “To do so is a crime and our Office will aggressively prosecute business owners who evade their federal tax obligations.”     

“Defrauding the government with a scheme to knowingly underreport taxable income is a crime. The people of the United States are the ultimate victims in these schemes – those taxpayers who truthfully file tax returns and pay their fair share of tax each year,” said Acting SAC Line. “Let this serve as a message to both small and large businesses alike, that individuals who deliberately underreport or omit income from their tax returns will be held accountable for their actions.”

IRS-CI Miami investigated this case. Assistant U. S. Attorney Marc Osborne prosecuted it.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case no. 21-cr-80091.

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