Owner Gene Haas goes to prison for 2 years

[Benevolent One]

Team owner Gene Haas gets two years in prison in tax fraud
Associated Press

Updated: November 5, 2007, 10:42 PM ET

LOS ANGELES -- A NASCAR team owner was sentenced Monday to two years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to defrauding the government of more than $34 million in taxes.

Gene Haas, the 54-year-old owner of Oxnard-based Haas Automation and NASCAR's Haas CNC Racing, was ordered to begin serving his term on Jan. 14, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Haas pleaded guilty in August to a felony conspiracy charge for orchestrating a plan to list bogus expenses that could be written off as business costs and save Haas Automation millions in taxes. The company makes computerized machine tools.

As part of his plea agreement, Haas paid a $5 million fine, plus more than $70 million in back taxes and interests.

"Mr. Haas has now paid the government more than twice the amount of taxes he attempted to avoid paying," U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien said in a statement.

"This huge monetary penalty, as well as the two-year prison term, should reassure law-abiding citizens that tax evasion can and will be rooted out, and that there are significant ramifications for those who attempt to cheat the government," he said.


Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

 

[BobbyFord]

Haas sentenced to two years: Gene Haas [owner of Haas CNC Racing #66, #70 teams] was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison today for conspiring to cheat the government out of millions of dollars in taxes owed by his company. At the request of Haas' lawyers, the judge recommended the owner of Oxnard-based Haas Automation Inc. undergo treatment for drugs and alcohol. At a sentencing hearing Monday, a judge ordered him to report to federal court Jan. 14, when he will be transported to prison. Haas pleaded guilty in August. In his plea agreement, Haas, 54, took responsibility for one of 11 federal charges brought against him, agreeing to spend two years in prison. As part of the deal, he has paid more than $70 million in restitution and fines. The conviction is a stunning setback for Haas, who had been regarded as an extraordinary success. He founded and built his company into the country's largest machine tool builder. Haas Automation remains one of Ventura County's larger employers, with about 1,100 workers at a manufacturing complex at 2800 Sturgis Road. Haas has also been one of Ventura County's most generous philanthropists. Haas' plea followed a six-year investigation that snared five of his business associates, who all have pleaded guilty in connection with the tax fraud scheme.(Ventura County Star)
AND He is required to serve 85% of the sentence before being considered for release, so he will have to serve at least 20 months and 12 days in prison. Officials with the race team, which has hired Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs as its drivers for next season, have indicated that it does not expect an impact from Haas' pending imprisonment. The team is owned by Haas Automation. When the plea bargain was agreed to in August, Haas' attorneys released a statement indicating that Haas relied on the wrong people for financial and accounting advice and made a mistake in filing the erroneous returns.(SceneDaily.com)(11-6-2007)