SONOMA VALLEY, CA — A Sonoma Valley businessman faces felony trial over allegations he withheld state vehicle taxes, DMV fees, and customer money connected to transactions at his former dealership in Boyes Hot Springs.
A Sonoma County judge ordered Sonoma Valley businessman Adam Kovacs to stand trial on 12 felony counts and one misdemeanor tied to alleged financial misconduct at his former dealership, Kovacs Motors.
Judge Lynette Brown issued the ruling after a May 8 preliminary hearing in which prosecutors argued Kovacs collected sales tax, title fees, and registration payments from customers in 2024 and 2025 but failed to send the money to the state.
Kovacs pleaded not guilty after prosecutors first filed charges in December. The case includes allegations of grand theft, embezzlement, and failure to remit sales tax and Department of Motor Vehicles fees connected to transactions at Kovacs Motors.
Prosecutors said Kovacs could face more than 16 years in prison if convicted on all charges, according to reports. Kovacs has denied wrongdoing.
The charges include 11 felony counts of misappropriation of public funds that prosecutors allege Kovacs failed to turn over. Those include sales taxes, title fees, and registration payments connected to 11 vehicle sales between September 2024 and May 2025, according to reports. The judge also certified one felony count of grand theft by embezzlement involving a consignment vehicle sale and one misdemeanor count alleging failure to provide registration and title documents to buyers, according to reports.
During the May 8 hearing, DMV investigator Vince Mestrovich testified that multiple customers paid Kovacs Motors for registration fees, title transfers, and sales taxes, according to reports.
The court also ordered Kovacs to stand trial on a separate felony embezzlement allegation involving a 2006 Porsche listed through a consignment agreement at Kovacs Motors for more than $53,000, according to reports.
According to testimony, prosecutors allege Kovacs contacted the buyer about two weeks after the sale and asked that the Porsche be returned so the dealership could complete emissions-related work required for registration renewal, according to reports.
The customer returned the vehicle, but prosecutors allege the Porsche was never returned to its owner and the owner never received compensation for the loss, the Press Democrat reported.
According to reports, Kovacs' defense attorney challenged the prosecution’s case during the hearing, arguing that investigators failed to provide banking records tracing where the customer money went. Dresow also disputed whether the unpaid fees legally qualified as “public money,” arguing prosecutors should have pursued a less severe registration-related offense instead, the Press Democrat reported.
Kovacs is scheduled to return to court June 9. He co-founded Sonoma Fit, with branches in Sonoma Valley and Petaluma. He co-hosted fitness videos produced by "So Fit TV" associated with Kovacs Motors. In a 2021 video, Kovacs told reporters about a dispute with the gym's landlord at the time.
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