New Hyde Park Couple Faces Tax Fraud Charges

Photo: (l-r) Rajpatee Rampersaud and Naren Rampersaud

A married couple from New Hyde Park was arrested for failing to pay more than $160,000 in tax liability and failing to secure appropriate licenses while operating their Queens business, the New York State Department of Taxation announced Thursday.

Rajpatee Rampersaud, 45, and her husband, Naren Rampersaud, 52, own Merrick Gas Services, Inc., which operates as a CITGO gas station in Bayside, Queens. They are being accused of failing to pay a total tax liability of $166,810 from Sept. 2009 through May 2014. The tax liability is a combination of cigarette sales, withholding and corporate taxes, the NYS Tax Department reports.

The Rampersauds also failed to secure the appropriate license to sell cigarettes, reports say.

They were charged with second degree grand larceny, second degree criminal tax fraud and operating without a certificate of authority to collect sales tax.

“Tax evasion and operating without a valid Certificate of Authority are serious crimes that can result in arrest, prosecution and severe fines,” New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Commissioner Jerry Boone said in a statement. “We gave both these businesses time to come into compliance, yet they flaunted the law and operated illegally and without adequately resolving their tax debt.”

According to the NYS Tax Department, businesses must have a valid Certificate of Authority from the NYS Tax Department.

“This is yet another example of business owners allegedly lining their own pockets with collected sales tax money that should have been remitted to the government,” said Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, who will be prosecuting the case. “The city and state rely on collected taxes to fund programs and services for the public. Stealing tax revenue is a crime and makes every New Yorker a victim.”

Images via NYS Tax Department