Man Sentenced in Gasoline Sales Tax Fraud

The former owner of a chain of Los Angeles County gas stations was ordered Tuesday to serve 18 months in jail for bilking the state out of more than $9 million in taxes and penalties in what prosecutors called the biggest fraud of its kind in state history.

Charles Nathan Shooster, 57, of Beverly Hills was also ordered by Municipal Judge Larry Paul Fidler to pay $34,000 in fines and serve five years on probation. The state Board of Equalization has filed suit to recover more than $9 million it claims that Shooster owes for gasoline sales taxes and penalties between 1980 and 1985.

Shooster and his wife Sonya Merle Shooster, 43, have filed for bankruptcy and closed their chain of 18 Sunny Gas and Good Cent Gas stations that had operated in Los Angeles, Studio City, North Hollywood, Woodland Hills, Sherman Oaks, Hollywood, South Gate, Pico Rivera and Pomona.

Shooster pleaded no contest Aug. 24 to five misdemeanor counts of violating the state Revenue and Taxation Code. Charges against Sonya Shooster were dismissed Tuesday.

Charles Shooster originally was named in a 22-misdemeanor complaint in July, 1986, when the state Board of Equalization, which oversees the gasoline taxes, launched a statewide campaign against gas station owners suspected of skimming tax receipts.

State officials have had less trouble collecting gas sales taxes since a new law went into effect July 1, 1986, said Bob Nunes, chief of field operations for the board. The law requires wholesalers to collect the sales taxes when they sell gasoline to station owners.