Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal announced the arrest of Samyon Gilstein, 33, and Alexandra Gilstein, 30, of Edgewater, on theft and sales tax evasion charges.
Beginning in December 2016 and January 2017, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the South Hackensack Police Department received complaints from customers, representatives of the New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission, and the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, regarding the operation of Sunrise Motors, Inc., a South Hackensack-based used car dealership.
The investigation revealed that Samyon Gilstein, the dealership’s owner and operator, and his wife, Alexandra Gilstein, the dealership’s manager, had conspired to collect New Jersey sales tax on retail automobile sales, falsely report the value of the tax collected, and steal the funds accumulated as a result of the false reporting.
Between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2016, the Gilsteins, while operating Sunrise Motors, collected in excess of $1,600,000.00 in New Jersey sales tax but falsely reported on quarterly tax returns that the business had only collected approximately $360,000.00. The total theft, which took place over a period of four years, was in excess of $1,240,000.00.
As a result of the investigation, Samyon Gilstein was arrested on August 22nd in Paramus, and charged with one count of misapplication of entrusted funds, one count of failure to turn over collected, withheld tax in an amount greater than $75,000, misconduct by a corporate official with a benefit greater than $75,000, and one count of filing a fraudulent tax return.
Authorities arrested Alexandra Gilstein on August 23rd in Paramus and charged her with one count of misapplication of Entrusted Funds and one count of filing a fraudulent tax return.
Samyon and Alexandra Gilstein were each served with a Complaint-Summons and released.
Both defendants are scheduled for a first appearance in Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court on September 6th.
Prosecutor Grewal states that these charges are merely accusations and that the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.