Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced that Timothy Kjaer, 49, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, formerly of Shoreham and the former owner of several auto shop businesses, has pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the First Degree for failing to report $16 million in taxable sales. This action resulted in the theft of over $1.3 million in sales tax from New York State.
“For over a decade, this defendant brazenly stole money from New York State by pocketing the sales tax he collected from customers instead of remitting it to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. In total, this defendant stole over $1.3 million by failing to report more than $16 million in taxable sales,” said District Attorney Tierney. “Today’s plea serves as a clear reminder that failing to pay taxes is a serious crime against the public that will not be tolerated. I thank our partners at the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance for continuing to work with my Office to investigate and prosecute tax fraud and to protect taxpayers.”
According to court documents and Kjaer's admissions during his guilty plea allocution, from June 1, 2011, to November 30, 2021, Kjaer failed to submit dozens of Sales Tax returns and falsified others that substantially underreported the taxable sales of several businesses he owned in Suffolk County.
Kjaer owned multiple businesses that failed to report sales tax revenue:
- Automotive Marine & Styling Center, Inc., and Real Deal Auto Inc., located at 1165 E. Main Street in Riverhead;
- Not Just Tint, Inc., S&T Autoworks 1, Inc., and S&T Auto Centers, Inc., located at 3165 Route 112 in Medford;
- EZ Credit Auto Sales, Inc., located at 2910 Route 112 in Medford;
- Universal Auto, Inc., located at 1831B Route 112 in Medford;
- Universal Auto Sales & Service, Inc., located at 8B Middle Country Road in Coram.
In total, Kjaer failed to report approximately $16,142,986 in taxable sales leading to the theft of $1,385,605 collected on behalf of New York State. Kjaer admitted that he collected these funds from customers on behalf of New York State but intentionally failed to remit them as required.
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