Owner of Anaheim Powerboat Company Is Fined $492,354

The owner of an Orange County powerboat company has been ordered to pay a total of $492,354 in fines and state sales taxes that he pocketed, state tax officials said Monday.

Clifford Henry Lotz, 43, owner of Caliber 1 Boats in Anaheim, also was sentenced to 180 days in jail. In lieu of serving that time, however, Lotz agreed to confine himself to his residence and place of business and wear an electronic monitor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Joe D’Agostino said.

Lotz was sentenced late last month in Orange County Superior Court after pleading guilty in December to one felony count of grand theft and three felony counts of filing fraudulent state tax returns. He could not be reached for comment.

D’Agostino said Lotz is being allowed to continue working in order to ensure that his boat building and retailing business remains open to generate the revenue needed to pay his fines and back taxes.

Caliber makes and sells high-performance ski boats.

A spokesman for the state Board of Equalization said Lotz was charged with the felonies after a routine audit of his company’s quarterly business tax returns revealed discrepancies between the returns and the company’s own financial records.