Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that an Ocean County man was sentenced to prison today for evading more than $500,000 in state sales tax by fraudulently claiming exemptions on 120 luxury cars he purchased as part of an illegal business to acquire vehicles for overseas buyers. He claimed exemptions for 56 of the cars by falsely buying them in the name of a charity for children with cancer.
Carl F. Monto, 55, of Beachwood, was sentenced today to seven years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci Jr. in Monmouth County. Monto pleaded guilty on March 26 to second-degree theft by deception and third-degree failure to pay tax. For purposes of restitution, he and his wife, Denise M. Monto, are required to forfeit $537,784 in assets seized from them by the state in August 2014 when both were arrested on theft charges. The state agreed not to oppose Denise Monto’s application for Pre-Trial Intervention and Judge Mellaci admitted her to the program on May 11.
Monto admitted that he evaded $264,806 in New Jersey sales tax on 56 luxury cars by falsely presenting dealerships with a charitable exemption certificate for Tri County Charity Center, Inc., a charity that purportedly benefited children with cancer. In reality, Monto did not operate the charity or purchase cars for the charity. Instead, he and his wife bought cars for overseas buyers, while paying the president of the charity $100 per car for use of the charity’s name. The buyers wired funds to the Montos, who converted them to cashier’s checks to conceal the source. In September 2012, the Division of Consumer Affairs reached a $65,000 settlement with the Montos and the president of Tri County related to the fraud. The settlement included an $18,000 payment to the NYU Langone Medical Center for treatment and research, and required the Montos to dissolve their unlicensed business, I Buy Cars for You, LLC.
Immediately after that settlement, however, the Montos formed I Buy Consulting, LLC, and continued their illegal operations. They used a new strategy to obtain tax exemptions, falsely claiming they were buying cars for a legitimate car dealership or leasing company. Such entities are exempt from the 7% sales tax because they are not the end user. Monto admitted he evaded over $250,000 in tax on 64 additional vehicles by presenting false exemption certificates for car dealerships and leasing companies.
The Montos operated the unlicensed businesses I Buy Cars For You and I Buy Consulting out of their home on Ocean Avenue in Beachwood. They typically purchased popular models of Mercedes Benz, BMW and other luxury vehicles, which in some cases were not available in the country of the buyer. The Montos shipped the vehicles to various countries, including Russia, China, South Korea, Finland, Sweden, Lithuania, Germany and Canada. In many cases, the Montos only made a profit because of the 7% sales tax they evaded. The cars were purchased from numerous different dealerships. Carl Monto used false identities and fraudulent driver’s licenses to purchase vehicles in the name of Tri County.