The owner of a Milpitas auto shop who pleaded guilty to tax evasion after failing to report more than $452,000 in income was sentenced to four years of probation, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
Sunnyvale resident Dominic Chang, 61, owner of Dominic’s Auto Service in Milpitas, was also sentenced to four months in a community correctional facility, eight months of home confinement and ordered to pay a $1,500 fine and $163,498 in restitution.
Chang failed to pay federal income taxes from 1999 to 2001 in the amounts of $20,942, $64,632, and $77,924, respectively.
As part of his plea, Chang admitted that he filed individual income tax returns reporting no taxable income during those years when his earnings were $48,561, $185,607 and $218,536, respectively.
In an attempt to hide the money, Chang kept two bank accounts and did not always issue an invoice to customers. When an invoice was not issued, payments were deposited into a Wells Fargo Bank account. When an invoice was issued, payment was put into a Cal Fed Bank account.
The separate accounts were discovered during a civil audit of Chang’s tax returns by the Internal Revenue Service. Upon discovery by the IRS auditor of the Wells Fargo account, Chang stated that the funds in that account belonged to his sister. He later admitted to IRS agents that he lied about the accounts.
Contact Mark Gomez at mgomez@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5869.
