3 years ago
The Erie County District Attorney's Office is calling it the largest sales tax case in county history.
Michael Wolfberg, owner of Premium Auto Sales on Sheridan Drive in Williamsville, failed to pay any sales taxes between March 2001 and November 2005, according to investigators. During that time, Wolfberg didn't pay nearly $734,000 to the state and Erie County, which would have received $365,000 of the total amount.
The dollar amount isn't the only element of this story that is raising eyebrows.
Wolfberg, who pleaded guilty to grand larceny, a felony, in April, faced up to 15 years behind bars. Instead, he will spend two months worth of weekends in jail.
Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark asked, "How much of a determent do you think that is?"
Wolfberg's attorney, Edward C. Cosgrove, paints a different picture.
"My client is a decent chap. He made some very poor business judgments," Cosgrove said.
In addition to spending two months of weekends in jail, from 7pm Fridays to 7pm Sundays, Wolfberg will be on probation for five years, and he must pay full restitution, or the full amount he failed to pay in sales taxes. In addition, Wolfberg has taken out a $700,000 life insurance policy and made the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance the beneficiary.
Cosgrove said Wolfberg has already repaid $106,000 of the amount owed, and expects to chip in up to another $200,000 when the Sheridan Drive property is sold.
The sentence allows Wolfberg, 60, to continue working to pay off the restitution.
Cosgrove said his client got in over his head in what was his first retail venture in the used car business.
Asked why over four and a half years he never contacted the state to notify authorities that he was in financial trouble, Cosgrove said, "Well, he certainly should have done that, and for that reason he's paying a penalty. He's been embarassed. He's in jail. He's going to have to work extraordinarily hard to repay this money."
"If the theft had been from a private corporation or a private individual, I'm sure the theft would have been treated more seriously," Clark said of the sentence.
Clark said the state did not pick up on the fact that Wolfberg was not paying sales taxes until an outsider called them with a tip.
Premium Auto Sales opened in 2001 and closed in late 2005. Clark said the investigation began in early 2006.
During 2005, Erie County was embroiled in a budget crisis, during which department leaders argued before the Erie County Legislature to save their staffs from being cut. The district attorney's office lost 18 lawyers, about 20% of its staff, and those positions have not been refilled. Clark said there are currently 82 lawyers on staff. He said the amount Wolfberg did not pay the county in sales tax, $365,000, was worth a dozen jobs in his office.
Asked if Wolfberg is remorseful, Cosgrove said, "Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. He's a gentleman who made a terrible mistake."
Cosgrove said Wolfberg is working as a car salesman in an undisclosed business in Western New York.
