BizLawCentral: Former mayor admits lying in personal bankruptcy case
Jeffrey Bennett, 57, of Corona, California, a former mayor of the town, has pleaded guiltyin United States District Court to one count of making false statements, a felony charge that carries a maximum statutory penalty of five years in federal prison.
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Bennett admitted that he lied to FBI agents during an interview on 13 July, 2009. The agents were investigating information that Bennett might have committed bank fraud, bankruptcy fraud and other crimes in connection with a USD9 million line of credit he had been granted by City National Bank, according to a plea agreement filed in the case.
During the interview, Bennett told the agents that Earth Elements, Inc., his company that developed the Nature’s Recipe brand, had been inactive since the brand was sold to the H.J. Heinz Company in 1996 and had been filing “zero dollar” tax returns for years.
However, as Bennett admitted in court, Earth Elements received millions of dollars in 2002 and 2003 as the result of lawsuits filed prior to the sale and had filed no tax returns since 2001.
In the plea agreement, Bennett agreed to file accurate tax returns for Earth Elements before 30 June and to pay a taxes due to the Internal Revenue Service.
Bennett further agreed not to conceal, transfer, or dissipate funds or property (i.e. not to commit money laundering) that could be used to satisfy taxes, penalties and interest owed by the company for the 2002 and 2003 tax years.
Sentencing is set for 6 June 2011.
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