Business Owner Held in Tax Case
The owner of a prominent Oxnard manufacturing company was arrested Monday after authorities alleged that he cheated the government out of $20 million in taxes because he was angry about losing a patent case.
Gene Francis Haas, 54, of Camarillo conspired with employees at his Haas Automation Inc. to create bogus invoices and other phony expenses to create false tax deductions, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.
The government said the scheme began in 2000, after Haas was forced to pay $8.9 million to settle a patent infringement suit brought by a rival firm. Haas blamed that loss on the federal judge who presided over the case, and decided to recoup his losses by underpaying his taxes, prosecutors said.
Neither Haas nor his attorney could be reached for comment. Haas was being held Monday in the Los Angeles County Jail, with a bail hearing set for Friday, Assistant U.S. Atty. Sandra Brown said.
Aided by four employees and suppliers, Haas created invoices for fictitious purchases of equipment and supplies, according to an 11-count indictment by a federal grand jury.
Instead of sending the equipment, the suppliers kicked back 98% of what Haas paid them and kept the rest for themselves, allowing Haas to claim the business deductions for the phantom expenses and pad his own bank account in the process, said the indictment returned June 8.
In addition to Haas, the indictment names Denis Arthur Dupuis, 51, of Newbury Park, and Robert Gene Cable, 73, of La Crescenta.
Dupuis was general manager of Haas Automation at the time. Cable, a former Haas salesman, ran Valencia-based Enmark & Associates, one of the supply companies that participated in the scheme, the indictment said.
Dupuis did not return a phone call and his attorney was unavailable for comment. Cable referred questions to his attorney, who was not available.
Charles Todd, owner of Supermill Inc., a Minden, Nev.-based supplier, agreed to plead guilty to a tax evasion count in connection with the case, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Another suspect, former Haas Controller Kenneth Green of Simi Valley, agreed to plead guilty to submitting a false document to the IRS, the government said.
“These deceptive and elaborate tax evasion schemes were devised to intentionally evade the income tax obligations of Mr. Haas and his company,” Kenneth J. Hines, an IRS special agent, said in a statement.
Haas’ company makes high-tech machine tools and employs 1,000 people. In 2003, Haas led a campaign to renovate the Boys & Girls Club in Oxnard by providing a $300,000 contribution and challenging others to follow his example.
