Albany Bar Owner Charged With 12 Felonies In Sales Tax Fraud Case

• by New York State Department of Taxation and Finance

ALBANY, NY (01/22/2010)(readMedia)-- New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Acting Commissioner Jamie Woodward announced today that an Albany bar owner has been indicted for stealing $191,305 in state and local sales tax that he collected from customers but failed to send to the state during a three year period while operating the Pearl Restaurant and Lounge located at One Steuben Place.

Timothy M. Rankins, 41, of Cohoes and current owner of the Envy Lounge, located at 55 North Pearl St., Albany, was charged with one felony count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony and 11 felony counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the First Degree, a class E felony.

Albany County Court Judge Thomas Breslin released Rankins on $25,000 bail. Rankins faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the charges.

During a civil audit conducted by the Tax Department's Capital Region office, it was discovered that substantial cash income was deliberately not being reported for sales tax purposes. The case was then referred to the Tax Department's Capital Region Special Investigations Unit for criminal investigation.

The investigation revealed that from June 1, 2005 through February 29, 2008, Rankins allegedly failed to report over $2.3 million in gross sales and attempted to conceal these sales by preparing and submitting fraudulent documents to New York State, thus defrauding the state of hundreds of thousands of dollars of sales tax revenue.

Acting Commissioner Woodward said: "This case is yet another prosecution arising out of our investigation of sales tax fraud by various cash businesses. Sales tax fraud not only deprives state and local governments of needed tax revenues, but it also defrauds customers who paid the sales tax. I thank Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares and his staff for their aggressive prosecution of this case.

"The Department offers programs such as the Voluntary Disclosure and Compliance Program to encourage delinquent taxpayers to become compliant without facing criminal prosecution or civil penalty. It is hoped that this arrest will encourage such taxpayers to come forward and satisfy their tax obligation. For more information about these programs, go to the Department's website at www.nystax.gov."

The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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