A Middlesex County, New Jersey, man was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison for filing false tax returns.
Thomas Kohutich, 34, of Woodbridge, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner to a two-count information that charged him with subscribing to false tax returns for calendar years 2018 and 2019.
Judge Castner imposed the sentence on the Avenel native and Kean University graduate Thursday in Trenton federal court.
The Avenel accountant admitted in federal court that he lied to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to the tune of nearly $841,000 worth of income on Jan. 10, rather than face a federal jury trial.
According to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger, documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Kohutich, a former accountant for a New Jersey-based manufacturing company, filed with the IRS U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns, Forms 1040, for calendar years 2018 and 2019 on his and his wife’s behalf.
Kohutich failed to report funds that he embezzled from his former employer, which he knew constituted reportable income.
Kohutich signed the tax returns under penalties of perjury, despite knowing that they contained materially false information.
As part of his plea agreement, Kohutich agreed to pay full restitution to the IRS for tax losses resulting from filing the false tax returns, as well as restitution to his former employer.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Caster sentenced Kohutich to one year of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $234,821 to the IRS and $829,457 to his former employer.
The Daily Voice reported that Kohutich once worked as a manager at Woodbridge Bowling Center, where he threw two perfect games.