Niagara County Businessman Sentenced to Probation in Sales Tax Fraud Case

Cheated Customers by Failing to Report over $875,000 in Taxable Sales

ALBANY, NY (02/26/2010)(readMedia)-- New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Acting Commissioner Jamie Woodward announced today that William M. Cowell, a North Tonawanda entrepreneur with a film-making and tree-trimming business, who pled guilty in December to a tax larceny charge, was sentenced Thursday to five years probation for stealing over $70,000 in state and local sales tax and failing to remit the money to New York State for a period of seven years.

Cowell, 44, president and owner of Captures Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Action Tree Service, located in North Tonawanda was sentenced before New York State Supreme Court Judge Richard C. Kloch, Sr. on a charge of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony.

As part of his plea agreement, Cowell paid restitution in the amount of $70,000 to the Tax Department. Cowell was spared a potential four year prison term.

Cowell, of 192 Witmer Road, North Tonawanda, is founder and president of the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival.

A tax department investigation revealed that Cowell collected sales tax on taxable sales of over $875,000 from his customers which he failed to remit to the state from December 2000 through November 30, 2007.

Conversely, Cowell failed to collect sales tax on taxable tree trimming services, falsely completing Certificates of Capital Improvement, claiming that the services were non-taxable.

Acting Commissioner Woodward said, "While sales tax larceny prosecutions are sadly becoming commonplace, the repeated use of forged certificates of capital improvement to cover the failure to collect tax makes this case particularly egregious. The Tax Department is committed to working aggressively with prosecutors across the state to combat this type of sales tax fraud. I commend Niagara County District Attorney Michael J. Violante and his staff for their prosecution of this case."

Acting Commissioner Woodward added, "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. We encourage 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."

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