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NRI Trucking Owners Sentenced four years and ordered to pay $739,767 in restitution

FRESNO, March 21, 2011

This bribe attempt was said to be the largest of its kind in U.S. history.

United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner, Treasury Inspector General of Tax Administration (TIGTA) said, "Kulwant Lasher, 54, an owner of Lasher Brothers Trucking Co. Inc., was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay no less than $739,767 in restitution for conspiring to bribe an IRS revenue officer and failing to pay employee withholding and payroll (FICA) taxes.

Kulwant Lasher's brother, Tarlochan Lasher, 56, also an owner of Lasher Brothers Trucking, was sentenced to one year in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for conspiring to failing to pay employee withholding and payroll taxes.

 

Lasher Brothers Trucking Company Inc. pleaded guilty today
Scheduled for sentencing on December 13, 2010 at 9:00 a.m.

Company owed IRS $2.4 million in back payroll taxes, penalties and interest

  • Kulwant Lasher faces a maximum prison term of 15 years and a maximum fine of $250,000.
  • Tarlochan Lasher faces a maximum prison term of five years and a maximum fine of $10,000

Fresno, California, Oct.04, 2010
Surinder Sanga

LOS BANOS TRUCKING COMPANY OWNERS CONVICTED OF TAX AND BRIBERY CONSPIRACY FRESNO, Calif. —

United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner today that the co­owners of Lasher Brothers Trucking Company Inc., based in Los Banos, pleaded guilty today before United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii to a conspiracy to avoid paying taxes. Kulwant Lasher, 53, entered a guilty plea to conspiring to bribe an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Revenue Officer and to fail to account for and pay employee withholding and Federal Insurance Contributions Act or FICA taxes, consisting of Social Security and Medicare payroll or employment taxes. Tarlochan Lasher, 55, entered a guilty plea to conspiring to account for and pay employee withholding and FICA taxes.

This case is a product of an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) effort. OCDETF is an interagency program that investigates and prosecutes the most significant drug trafficking and money laundering organizations throughout the U.S. by leveraging the combined expertise of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. OCDETF task force members in this case included the Internal Revenue Service, the Treasury Inspector General of Tax Administration (TIGTA), and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The case originally arose out of a joint DEA and California Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE) OCDETF investigation of Sergio Reynol Padilla, 43, of Merced, who earlier this year was sentenced to 262 months for a drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracy. The money laundering portion of the conspiracy involved the laundering of $100,000 in proceeds obtained from Padilla’s drug trafficking activities through the accounts of Lasher Brothers Trucking Company. Assistant United States Attorney Karen A. Escobar is prosecuting both the Lasher and Padilla cases.

According to their guilty pleas, Kulwant and Tarlochan Lasher admitted that as corporate officers and owners of Lasher Brothers Trucking Company Inc., they conspired to fail to account for and pay employee withholding and FICA taxes for tax years 2003 through 2007. Kulwant Lasher also acknowledged that in October, 2007, he engaged in a scheme to bribe an IRS Revenue officer to abate Lasher Brothers Trucking Company’s tax liability. In pleading guilty, both Tarlochan and Kulwant Lasher acknowledged during the bribery scheme that Lasher Brothers Trucking owed the IRS $2.4 million in back payroll taxes, penalties and interest. According to TIGTA, the case is the largest in the United States involving the bribery of a revenue officer.

With respect to the bribery conduct, Kulwant Lasher admitted that he had offered to pay an undercover IRS revenue officer $600,000 in cash to eliminate the company’s $2.4 million tax liability. As part of the bribery scheme, Kulwant Lasher met the revenue officer at a restaurant and gas station, paid him $56,500 in cash, and handed over his 2003 BMW 745L and a quitclaim deed for his residence in Los Banos.

Immediately, after delivering his BMW to the revenue officer, Kulwant Lasher called a BMW dealership in Fresno and asked to be picked up because he wanted to buy a new BMW. When asked about a $747,000 tax lien on his credit record, Kulwant Lasher, knowing of his tax liability to the IRS, told the salesman that he had already paid it. Kulwant Lasher then purchased a brand new 745 BMW for approximately $95,000.

The Lasher brothers are scheduled for sentencing on December 13, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. Judge Ishii ordered Kulwant Lasher to remain detained as a flight risk and a danger to the community. Earlier this year, Kulwant Lasher was detained following conviction by a jury in Santa Clara County for bribing a city official in connection with his taxicab business in that county.

That bribery occurred while Kulwant Lasher was on federal supervised release in the Eastern District of California for the charges in this case.

Kulwant Lasher faces a maximum prison term of 15 years and a maximum fine of $250,000. Tarlochan Lasher faces a maximum prison term of five years and a maximum fine of $10,000. Both have agreed to file and pay all personal and corporate tax returns and pay all personal and corporate taxes, including penalties and interest, owed by them and their trucking company

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LOS BANOS TRUCKING COMPANY OWNERS FACE EXPANDED
TAX AND BRIBERY CHARGES

October 2, 2008

FRESNO, Calif.—United States Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced today that a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging KULWANT LASHER, 51, TARLOCHAN LASHER, 53, and JASWINDER LASHER, 48, brothers and owners of Lasher Brothers Trucking Company Inc., based in Los Banos, Calif., with 19 tax violations in addition to the bribery charges already filed against them.
The case is the product of an extensive investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Treasury Inspector General of Tax Administration (TIGTA).

According to Assistant United States Attorneys Karen A. Escobar and Sheila K. Oberto, who are prosecuting the case, the LASHER brothers were charged in October 2007 with a scheme to bribe an IRS Revenue Officer to abate a tax liability of approximately $2.5 million. According to TIGTA, the case is the largest in the United States involving the bribery of a revenue officer. The new tax charges relate to the Lasher Brothers Trucking Company’s failure to account for and pay employee withholding and F.I.C.A., or Social Security and Medicare taxes for tax years 2003 through 2007 totaling nearly $2 million.

The LASHER brothers allegedly offered to pay an undercover Revenue Officer of the IRS $600,000 in cash to eliminate approximately $2.5 million in delinquent employee withholding and F.I.C.A. taxes and penalties. As part of the alleged bribery scheme to eliminate their trucking company’s tax debt, the LASHER brothers, during meetings with the Revenue Officer at a restaurant and gas station, paid to the Revenue Officer for his personal use $56,500 in cash and handed over a quitclaim deed for KULWANT LASHER’s residence in Los Banos, along with a 2003 BMW 745L.

A conviction for bribery of a public official carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $1.8 million. A conviction for each of the 19 tax charges carries a maximum penalty of five years and a fine of up to $250,000, together with the costs of prosecution. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables and any applicable statutory sentencing factors.

The LASHER brothers are scheduled to appear for a status conference before United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii on Tuesday, October 27, 2008, at 11:00 a.m. The charges are only allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Three brothers, owner of Trucking Company charged with bribery

San Jose, Oct. 14, 2007
Surinder Singh

Three NRI brothers, Kulwant Lasher, 50, Tarlachan Lasher, 52, and Jaswinder Lasher, 47 of Lasher Brothers Trucking Inc., Los Banos, California, have been charged with bribery in connection with an income tax evasion scheme.

According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court Oct. 5 in Fresno, the Lasher brothers offered to pay an IRS revenue officer, working undercover in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Treasury's inspector general for tax administration, $600,000 in cash to eliminate around $2.4 million in delinquent federal taxes and penalties.

The brothers paid the agent $54,000 in cash and gave him a 2003 BMW 745Li and the deed to Kulwant Lasher's home in Los Banos.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheila Oberto said, they made their initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sandra M. Snyder in U.S. District Court in Fresno where they pleaded not guilty to all charges.

According to Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the case is the largest in the nation involving an alleged bribery of a revenue officer.

If convicted the Lasher brothers face up to 15 years in prison and up to $1.8 million in fines for bribing a public official.


http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/oct/24bribe.htm

Three Indian-Americans face up to 15 years in prison if they are convicted in a bribery case in the United States, a website has reported. The case is said to be the largest in the US involving bribery in a revenue office.

The owners of a Los Banos-based trucking company-- Kulwant Lasher, 50, Tarlachan Lasher, 52, and Jaswinder Lasher, 47--have been accused of bribing an internal revenue service officer to abate a tax liability of more than $2 million.

The owners of Lasher Brothers Trucking Co. Inc. initially appeared before US Magistrate Judge Sandra M. Snyder in US. district court in Fresno, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheila Oberto.

"We requested they be detained," she said, adding that a preliminary hearing is scheduled for next Friday in Fresno.

According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court on October 5, the Lasher brothers offered to pay an IRS revenue officer, who was working undercover in cooperation with US department of treasury's inspector general for tax administration, $600,000 in cash to eliminate approximately $2.4 million in delinquent federal taxes and penalties.

The complaint said as part of the alleged bribery scheme, the defendants actually paid the revenue officer more than $54,000 in cash and handed over a quitclaim deed for Kulwant Lasher's residence in Los Banos, the website said.

Meanwhile, a woman, who identified herself as a family member, refused to comment on the alleged bribery charges, the website added.

"Instead of complying with federal tax laws, these individuals chose to resolve their tax issues by bribing an IRS revenue officer, which resulted in their arrests," the website quoted an official as saying.