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Gantcho Zagorski, 60, pleaded guilty to a single count of aiding and assisting in the filing of a false tax return.
A federal grand jury in Newark indicted Zagorski last April on charges of submitting bogus returns for calendar years 2006, 2007 and 2008.
The indictment didn’t refer to Zagorski’s suspected involvement in fencing a vast haul of coins stolen from the Veliko Turnovo Museum in February 2006.
More than 10,000 golden, silver and bronze coins were stolen from the museum’s numismatic fund — among them, valuable artifacts that date back to the time of Alexander the Great.
The coins made their way to Munich through channels that authorities suspected may have involved Zagorski and another Bulgarian coin seller on eBay, CLIFFVIEW PILOT has learned.
According to the indictment:
“Zagorski owned and operated a business that sold ancient coins to domestic and international customers, primarily on eBay, from his residence in Hackensack. Zagorski, along with his wife and, at times, his daughter, operated the coin-selling business under the names ‘Diana Coins,’ ‘Paganecoins,’ and ‘Diana Coins, LLC.’
“For calendar years 2006, 2007, and 2008, Zagorski provided his tax preparer with false and fraudulent information by understating the amount of gross receipts and sales earned by his business. Zagorski then caused to be filed with the IRS those federal income tax returns for 2006, 2007 and 2008 containing that false and fraudulent information.”
Today Zagorski admitted claiming gross receipts and sales of $310,901 for 2006 when, in fact, the business generated more than $600,000 that year.
U.S. District Judge Esther Salas scheduled sentencing for May 12.
U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman credited special agents of Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations New York, the IRS – Criminal Investigation, and the FBI’s Newark Field Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maureen Nakly of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division and Leslie Schwartz of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit are handling the case for the government.
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