Businessman And Former Attorney From Long Island Charged In Separate Felony Tax Fraud Cases

ALBANY, NY (12/30/2009)(readMedia)-- New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Acting Commissioner Jamie Woodward announced that Jordan Wert, the owner of Image Quest, a printing business located at 160 Rome Street, Farmingdale, and Stephen Hill, a former attorney and principal with Hill & Associates, a law firm with offices located in Uniondale and Hempstead, each were recently charged with separate felony counts for failing to remit tax money to New York State.

Wert, 49, of 215 Miller Place, Syosset, pled guilty December 18 to one count of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony. Wert was charged with stealing over $68,000 in state and local sales tax collected from his customers between 2001 and 2007 and failing to report more than $668,000 in taxable sales.

Wert is scheduled to be sentenced on February 11, 2010, in Suffolk County Court. At the time of his plea, Wert paid partial restitution of $25,000 with the balance to be paid either at or after sentencing.

In the second case, Hill, 59, a lawyer who previously practiced in Nassau County, was charged with stealing $18,346 of his employee's state income tax withholdings from 2000 to 2005.

Hill, currently a resident of Nevada, was arrested by the Nassau County District Attorney's Office on December 22 and charged with one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class D felony. Hill could face up to seven years in prison.

The defendant is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty.

Acting Commissioner Woodward said, "The Tax Department, with support of prosecutors around the state, is committed to pursuing tax scofflaws. Regardless of profession or how they cheat, these scofflaws force all New Yorkers to shoulder a greater share of the tax burden, taxes that pay for essential services such as health care, education and transportation. I thank both Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas J. Spota and Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice for their aggressive prosecution of these cases.

"The department offers the Voluntary Disclosure and Compliance Program to encourage delinquent taxpayers to become compliant without facing criminal prosecution or civil penalty. For more information about these programs, go to the Department's website at www.nystax.gov."

The cases were investigated by staff from the department's Special Investigations Unit offices in Suffolk County and Nassau County.

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