WESTLAKE VILLAGE : Sentencing Set in Tax Evasion Scheme

A 33-year-old Westlake Village inventor who pleaded guilty in Ventura County Municipal Court to charges of state income tax evasion is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 5.

Blake R. Schwartzman, the co-inventor of the raised plastic ring that protects Swatch watches from scratching, failed to file state tax returns on more than $1 million from 1987 to 1989. He now faces back taxes, penalties and interest of more than $200,000 and could be sentenced to up to three years in prison, Jim Reber of the California Franchise Tax Board said.

In 1987, Schwartzman created a company in Williamson County, Tex., called Best Timing. He also registered to vote, opened several bank accounts and obtained a driver’s license in Texas, which has no state income tax, Reber said.

“I can only suspect that he wanted to save $200,000 in taxes,” Reber said.

California authorities learned from a confidential informant earlier this year that Schwartzman never actually moved to Texas and had been living in California all along. After checking Schwartzman’s financial and utility records and other documents, authorities charged him with tax evasion in March.

“This is an unusual case because of the lengths he went through to deceive us,” Reber said. “We believed there was criminal intent.”