SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — The president of an East Bay logistics company that provides ride services to the disabled pleaded guilty to filing fraudulent business tax returns to hide more than $4.6 million that he used for his own private spending, federal prosecutors said.
Shiv Kumar, 60, who founded A-Paratransit Inc. in 1996, according to the company’s website, filed the fraudulent returns with the IRS for tax years 2009 and 2010, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.
The total of Kumar’s embezzled money caused the Internal Revenue Service a tax loss of more than $1.5 million.
Kumar founded the company more than two decades ago, he fostered its growth as A-Paratransit grew to a fleet of more than 200 vehicles. The company has more than 250 employees, according to its website. Its fleet of large, white vans and buses have features to accommodate riders in wheelchairs and those with other disabilities.
Under the terms of his plea agreement, Kumar admitted to one count of making and subscribing a false income tax return. He admitted to creating three bank accounts that were never disclosed to his accountant. In these accounts, prosecutors said, Kumar funneled millions in gross receipts from the business without reporting it.
Each account was opened in the name of the business, however, Kumar exercised complete control of them, he said in his plea agreement. Kumar was also the soul shareholder of the company.
He used the accounts to funnel money into two investment accounts and spent the money on himself and his family. Kumar also used the money to purchase more real estate in Vallejo. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 7 and faces up to three years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
