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Thom Mrozek (213) 894-6947 |
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Release No. 07-071
May 24, 2007
SECOND GUILTY PLEA IN $20 MILLION TAX EVASION SCHEME
LINKED TO VENTURA COUNTY MANUFACTURING FIRM
The former owner of a Valencia company pleaded guilty today to conspiring with the owner of the Oxnard-based Haas Automation, Inc., who allegedly engineered a $20 million tax fraud scheme.
Robert Gene Cable, 75, of La Crescenta, the former owner of Enmark Aerospace, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to impede, impair, obstruct and defeat the lawful functions of the Internal Revenue Service. Cable pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Christina A. Snyder, who is scheduled to sentence the defendant on January 28, 2008.
During this morning’s hearing in United States District Court in Los Angeles, Cable admitted that he conspired with Gene Haas and others employed at Haas Automation to engage in a false invoice and payment scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.
In his plea agreement, Cable admitted that during the years 2000 and 2001 he participated in the false invoicing and payment scheme, which involved an exchange of checks between Enmark Aerospace and Haas Automation. Paperwork documenting the exchanges created the false appearance that Enmark Aerospace was receiving payments from Haas Automation for selling items that it never actually sold to Haas Automation.
According to Cable’s plea agreement, Haas personally negotiated the deal with Cable, agreeing to pay Cable a 2 percent kickback fee for swapping the checks. As part of the scheme, Cable received checks from Haas Automation in amounts just under $1 million, and, in exchange, Cable wrote checks, at 98 percent of the face value of the Haas Automation checks, to another company that Haas controlled. In 2000 and 2001, Cable received and cashed, on behalf of Enmark Aerospace, more than $25 million in Haas Automation checks, returning approximately 98 percent to Haas.
Cable faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
Previously in this case, Dennis Arthur Dupuis, 51, of Newbury Park, the former general manager of Hass Automation, pleaded guilty to conspiracy related to his involvement with Haas’ tax fraud scheme. Dupuis is scheduled to be sentenced on January 14, 2008. Additionally, two other individuals involved in the scheme, Charles Todd and Kenneth Greene, have also pleaded guilty and are pending sentencing.
Hass, the only defendant remaining in the case, is scheduled to go on trial on September 18. Hass faces charges of conspiracy, subscribing to false tax returns and witness intimidation.
This investigation was conducted by IRS-Criminal Investigation in Los Angeles.
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Release No. 07-071
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