New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Acting Commissioner Jamie Woodward announced that Garry Mackiewicz, president and owner of D&M Refrigeration, Inc., was sentenced recently to five years probation, one hundred hours of community service, and ordered to repay $231,555 he stole in sales tax collected from his customers by underreporting his taxable sales by over $2.6 million.

Mackiewicz, 51, of West Seneca, was sentenced November 12 in State Supreme Court before the Honorable Penny M. Wolfgang.  He pled guilty on August 26, 2009, to one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree.

D&M Refrigeration, Inc., a full scale commercial food service equipment dealer located at 1340 William Street in Buffalo, was under civil audit when it was discovered that the business had collected sales tax in the amount of $290,839 between December 1, 2005 and August 31, 2008.  During that same period, however, it remitted and filed sales tax returns reflecting the collection of only $59,284. The matter was then referred to the Buffalo Special Investigations Unit for criminal investigation.

The company and Mackiewicz agreed to make full restitution to the tax department over five years, in the total amount of $383,752.34, which includes $85,990.70 interest and $66,206.64 in civil penalties.  So far, $71,310 has been repaid to New York State.

Acting Commissioner Woodward stated, “Sales taxes collected by businesses are the property of New York State and its citizens, and these taxes help fund critical services such as health, education and transportation. It is a crime to steal sales taxes and we will continue to vigorously investigate these thefts.  I thank Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita and Assistant District Attorney Susan Sadinsky for their support and aggressive prosecution of this case.

“The Department offers programs such as the Voluntary Disclosure and Compliance Program to encourage delinquent taxpayers to become compliant without facing criminal prosecution or civil penalty. It is hoped that this case will encourage such taxpayers to come forward and satisfy their tax obligation.  For more information about these programs, go to the department’s website at www.nystax.gov.”