NJ Nabs Freehold Tax Cheat

NEW JERSEY 101.5

The owner of Absolutely Spotless Home Cleaning Professionals, Inc. admits he schemed to disguise and hide income so he could defraud New Jersey out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by underpaying income, sales and corporate business taxes.

Acting Attorney General John Hoffman said Philip Kossoy of Freehold pleaded guilty today. Kossoy is scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 3.

“Tax fraud is costly to the state and an affront to the honest residents and business operators who pay their fair share,” said Hoffman. “We will aggressively prosecute tax cheats, make them pay, and secure convictions that will deter others from these crimes.”

According to the guilty plea, Kossoy tried to conceal and disguise revenue from his business by taking cash payments from customers and depositing them into multiple personal bank accounts opened by him, rather than his business account.  He also had customers make checks payable to him personally and not to the business.

The state’s probe revealed 192 instances of Kossoy altering customer checks by blacking out the memo section of the checks, which referenced the true business purpose of the check.

Kossoy also deposited more than $1 million in cash and checks into personal accounts created using another person’s social security number.

“Working with forensic auditors in the Division of Taxation, we are targeting tax evaders and individuals who steal from the state by obtaining tax refunds through fraud,” said Elie Honig, director of the Division of Criminal Justice. “Our message is this; those who try to cheat the state will face tough criminal penalties, in addition to civil penalties.”