Westwood/Dominick pleads guilty to tax evasion, identity theft
Chessman
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Former Bergen County, New Jersey, Coin Dealer Admits Income Tax Evasion
TRENTON, N.J. – A former resident of Old Tappan, New Jersey, today admitted evading personal income taxes on more than $400,000 in income in 2013, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
William Dominick, 68, of Collier County, Florida, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with one count of tax evasion and one count of identity theft.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Dominick owned and operated Westwood Rare Coin out of his home in Old Tappan. He was required to include income earned by Westwood Rare Coin on his individual IRS 1040 form. During calendar year 2013, Dominick failed to report $400,000 in income earned by Westwood Rare Coin. He did this by using other people’s identities to open credit cards to purchase bulk quantities coins from the U.S. Mint in order to corner the market. Dominick then sold those coins through his business, retained the proceeds for his personal use, and failed to include the proceeds on the tax return that he signed and filed with the IRS.
The count of identity theft to which Dominick pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison; the count of tax evasion carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison; both counts also carry a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for May 23, 2017.
Under terms of his plea agreement, Dominick will file amended returns and make full restitution for years 2010 through 2014.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of special agent in charge Timothy Gallagher; special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan D. Larsen; and inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Postal Inspector in Charge James V. Buthorn, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shana Chen of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.
Defense counsel: John Whipple Esq., Morristown, New Jersey
Comments
Guess the mint product flippers will have one less (or several depending on how many accounts he was ordering from) competitor on release day.
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He appears to be a PNG member. Hopefully not anymore!
ANA LM
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Yikes!!
Also years 2010 to 2014 too.
Don't finagle your taxes people.
"“Those who sacrifice liberty for security/safety deserve neither.“(Benjamin Franklin)
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Sounds vaguely familiar. Does he have an eBay?
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Greed will get you in the end.
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Bob
If he is a PNG member ,I hope that they look into this now!
I asked my PNG dealer mentor back in the 1980's why they let certain dealers into the PNG when they had obviously ripped collectors for years during the 1970's and 1980's. The answer: "It was easier to monitor and control them from the inside, rather than from the outside."
I had jury duty in Judge Thompson's court in Trenton. I was very impressed by her fairness and knowledge of the law. I have no doubt that she will render a fair sentence.
I remember meeting a dealer who had moved from the NY area to Florida thinking a geographical change would allow him a fresh financial start, though the guy had years of tax avoidance while he was in NY. They caught up with him in FL and he owed whopping taxes.
Sure folks remember this story
William Dominick had stopped at a Waffle House in Bradenton, where armed robbers smashed out the windows of his silver Mercedes Benz sedan while he sat in the driver's seat, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.
Popping open the trunk, the robbers grabbed two steel cases plus a briefcase and ran toward a black late-model luxury car with tinted windows. A homeless man intervened and slugged one of the robbers, who dropped and left behind the largest of the cases, reports show.
"It had $700,000 to $800,000 inside," Dominick said Thursday evening of the recovered case. The contents included an 1879 U.S. gold coin worth $150,000 and a $10,000 bill valued at $75,000, he said.
I've known Bill since I was a teenager and feel bad for him, even if he did step over a line or two.
I'm also confused as to how he could face 15 years in jail for buying coins under aliases. Seems beyond extreme. Hopefully the judge will agree.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
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Andy, the article states that Bill plead guilty to identity theft, which appears to have been likely related to opening credit cards under other names and identities.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Do you not understand how those aliases came to be? It's called identity theft. He got a hold of peoples information and opened credit card accounts under their names without their knowledge. That is a pretty serious crime. My opinion, 15 years would be very light.
I don't know the specifics of the case, but I would be surprised if he did not pay for what he purchased. If I'm right, that makes this case very different from the typical case of identity theft.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
The article states he plead guilty to identity theft...
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
I understand. But that doesn't mean that he didn't pay for the coins, or that he stuck anyone else with the bill. In fact, the article states that he bought the coins to "corner the market", not that he bought the coins without paying for them. To imagine how that might be a lucrative game, think back to the gold Kennedy halves. Lots of money to be made if you could figure a way to buy more coins than your household limit. Again, I don't know what actually happened, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt until I learn more.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Hope the identity theft was not just a case of using family and friends (with their knowledge) to circumvent household limits set by the mint. If so, lotta people here might want to delete some older posts. LOL.
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I guess that's one way to beat the Mint's Household Limit.
It matters not what the intent was... Identity theft is still the charge.... Pleading guilty may be a bargain to keep from being charged further...looks to me like some plea bargaining. Cheers, RickO
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2006-01-20/news/COINTHEFT20_1_coin-dealer-coin-show-silver-dollars
hmmmmm
Yes, I am not sure why anyone is not getting this. He opened CC accounts in other people's names so he could skirt the Mint Limits. Instead of offering a premium to individual buyers like other dealers who deal in this stuff. This is wrong on multiple dimensions. He may otherwise be a great guy/dealer/friend or whatever but he is ALSO a crook.
A really odd statement.
Monitor them and control them to what ends? Would the punishment be kicking them out, thus by the dealer's admission making it harder to monitor and control them further?
Should the PNG be actively recruiting suspected con-artists in the hobby to make them easier to monitor and control? If so, what happens when con-artists comprise a majority of the voting membership? Who, then, monitors whom?
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If that's all he did, it's no more unethical than hiring people to stand in line at the Mint. Maybe more illegal, maybe not. But not more unethical.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
We don't have enough information at this point to really know, but it seems very unlikely that is a reasonable comparison. Hiring someone to stand in line would be similar to getting a friend buy coins with his credit card and then re-imbursing your friend. You don't get charged with identity theft for that. If your "friend" doesn't know you have a credit card in his name and you are using it, that is identity theft.
It seems clear that you want to give him the benefit of the doubt and that's fine, but he pled guilty to very serious crimes. You don't plead guilty to serious crimes unless it is very likely you will be convicted of them or worse/more crimes.
I have never understood how the DAs and US Attorneys back off on going back years to ascertain how many years the frauds were going on. If there is smoke there is usually fire, and if there is corruption like this there was probably a lot of it.
Kind of like who investigates the investigators.
Keeping tabs on the crooks or enabling them?? Dominick liked Accugrade slabs, PNG should have booted him a long time ago.
PNG Code of Ethics
http://pngdealers.org/code-of-ethics/
I was thinking the same thing as I read this. If you give the IRS a lead that results in an arrest, then you can get a nice finders fee... 10% I believe.
Wells Fargo was caught doing this same thing or worse by a factor of 1000X or more while making up 2 MILL fake accounts with various identities, sometimes real ones, and not letting the people know. Not a single person will go to jail for that. But this coin dealer will.
Well maybe he committed identify theft without ever harming those folk, but he also did not report or pay tax on the income he made from the transactions. Sentencing guidelines are likely to be much less than the statutory 15 years.
Let me also add an overarching editorial: this country's criminal justice system is broken and corrupt and needs a complete overhaul.
I doubt the guy was caught as a result of one of his workers. Usually that happens through a disgruntled wife, business partner or shafted customer if they have evidence.
$400,000, wow!
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Ah, the good old days when Nooks, CM, and I would ride bikes from our homes in, well, Old Tappan, to Mr. D's store in Westwood. I still have a polished to crap 1871 holed Seated Dollar I bought from him some 40+ years ago. And I did make a fortune (to a fourteen-year old,) selling him Bicentennial dollars:
(1) Go to the bank with $20 (or was it $25??) (2) Get a roll of 76P T1s - the bank in River Vale had only T1s. (3) Ride the rest of the way to Westwood. (4) Double my money. Go to (1)
That's why I could never beat his Merc dime set
PS. Unless I'm reading it wrong, he opened up credit cards in other people's names and used them to buy coins. He paid the cards. However, he now has coins that are not on record as being purchased by his business. He subsequently sells the coins for cash, makes a profit, and doesn't report the profit to the IRS because on paper he never owned the coins to sell... Unless I'm reading it wrong...
White collar crime. He got caught, there are consequences.
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I've stayed away from this thus far, since I thought it would generate some disagreement. My initial feeling was that the potential sentence is pretty harsh for the crime and that he has or will negotiate something substantially less than that. Making restitution also goes a long way towards sentence reduction. The Feds prosecute these matters in heavy handed fashion as they each are advocates for their cause and they are just doing their jobs. And, of course, the actual sentence should be appropriate for the crime. I also understand that there is sometimes little sympathy for people that don't pay taxes. As a long time practicing lawyer, who doesn't practice criminal or tax law, I'll simply pass along my lawyer-father's advice regarding taxes. He had 2 rules. First, don't mess with the Feds. Second, report all income.
Tom
I am with your sentiments, except this comment. Many times a federal prosecutor's cause is not justice. That is a big part of the reason why the system is corrupt and broken. Due to plea bargaining, the prosecutor's office deciding that they are the ultimate interpreter of law, thus taking decisions out of judges hands, justice is not served. Prosecutors do not go after the guilty, they go after who they want to.
"It had $700,000 to $800,000 inside," Dominick said...
"The blessing is that that homeless guy was there," said Dominick, who gave the man a $100 bill.
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The case indicated the net income due on the gross: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/press-release/file/939146/download
Are deductions and business expenses allowed on gross income if there is criminal tax evasion? http://money.cnn.com/1999/03/25/taxes/q_penalties/
Hopefully he got the most favorable deal, you have to wonder as sometimes the best tax lawyers can get better deals.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shana Chen of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.
Defense counsel: John Whipple Esq., Morristown, New Jersey
Another Mr. Whipple, don't squeeze the Charmin!