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Secaucus car dealer’s son admits role in IRS ‘drug money’ sting

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: The son of a Secaucus man who used his father’s auto dealership to launder what he thought was drug money from an IRS agent posing as a cocaine dealer pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in federal court in Newark yesterday.

Photo Credit: Cliffview Pilot

Gilberto A. Teixeira Jr., 23, of East Newark, faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Susan D. Wigenton on Sept. 5.

He and his father,
Gilberto A. Teixeira Sr., 48, were arrested by federal agents last November at the elder man’s GT Motor Sport shop in Newark.

An undercover agent met with the father in late April 2011, “indicating that he was a cocaine trafficker looking to purchase a car with narcotics proceeds,” U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said.

The agent negotiated the purchase of a BMW M5 for $50,000 cash and “explained that he was concerned about paperwork being filed in connection with the purchase,” Fishman said.

Teixeira told the agent that the contract would reflect a $9,000 down payment because a down payment of $10,000 would be “trouble,” according to a complaint on file in federal court in Newark (Trades and businesses that receive more than $10,000 in coins or currency in one or more related transactions are required to report it to the IRS).

The complaint says the elder Teixeira “assured the agent that he would not file any paperwork and explained that the contract would falsely reflect that the automobile was financed though the agent planned to pay cash in full.”

It says he also told the agent that he’d be able to claim the automobile if it were part of a drug seizure.

The agent returned that afternoon with the bait money and sealed the deal with Teixeira’s son, who, according to the complaint, falsified the automobile contract, indicating the car was financed.

Teixiera also agreed to put the car in what the agent said was his girlfriend’s name, with a puchase price of only $37,000 to avoid the tax ramifications. The “girlfriend” — actually, another IRS agent — gave him a driver’s license and insurance card to finish the deal.

The complaint says he counted the money out in front of them.

It didn’t end there, however.

The agent returned in early October and negotiated the sale of another vehicle for $57,000 that he said was drug money, according to the IRS complaint.

IRS records show that Teixeira, Sr., Teixeira, Jr., GT II Auto Sales Corp. (Teixeira, Sr.’s former auto dealership), and GT Motor Sport LLC have never filed an 8300 form for cash transactions over $10,000.

Fishman credited the IRS and the DEA for making the case, being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frances C. Bajada of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Narcotics/Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Unit in Newark.



 


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