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Ex-Jersey Shore Construction Company Owner From Long Island Admits Ducking $500G In Taxes

A Long Island man admitted defrauding the government out of more than $500,000 in taxes by using check-cashing businesses to launder income from his former Jersey Shore construction company.

Clarkson S. Fisher Federal Building And United States Courthouse in Trenton

Clarkson S. Fisher Federal Building And United States Courthouse in Trenton

Photo Credit: GoogleMaps Street View

The unidentified company that Khuram Raja, 37, owned and operated while living in Manalapan received unreported cash and proceeds from patronizing local check-cashing facilities, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.

Raja, currently of Locust Valley, NY, also deducted personal expenses from the company’s returns without reporting it, Sellinger said.

Raja failed to file business tax returns on time three years in a row, the U.S. attorney said.

“As a result of this conduct, Raja evaded $543,815 in personal income taxes for tax years 2016, 2017, and 2018,” Sellinger said.

A complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Trenton cites incidents that include Raja reporting $3.8 million in company gross receipts for the calendar year 2017 while omitting $355,570.51 worth of cashed checks.

Raja took a deal from the government rather than risk the potential consequences of a jury trial.

He pleaded guilty in Trenton earlier this week to a single count of tax evasion in exchange for leniency at sentencing, which U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi scheduled for April 16, 2024.

Sellinger credited special agents of IRS – Criminal Investigation for the investigation leading to the plea secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine M. Romano of his Health Care Fraud Unit in Newark.

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