By: Richard L. Smith
A Middlesex County man, Thomas Kohutich, 34, of Woodbridge, has been sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison for filing false tax returns, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Kohutich, a former accountant, previously pleaded guilty to two counts of filing fraudulent tax returns for the years 2018 and 2019.
The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner in Trenton federal court.
According to court documents, Kohutich submitted false tax returns on behalf of himself and his wife, failing to disclose income he had embezzled from his former employer, a New Jersey-based manufacturing company.
Despite signing the returns under penalty of perjury, Kohutich knowingly withheld information about the embezzled funds, which he understood constituted reportable income.
As part of his plea agreement, Kohutich agreed to make full restitution to both the IRS and his former employer.
Judge Castner ordered him to pay $234,821 to the IRS to cover the tax losses and $829,457 to his former employer.
In addition to the prison sentence, Kohutich will serve one year of supervised release following his incarceration.