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Orange County residents Mehdi and Saaed Moslem, owners of the Exclusive Motor Sports dealership in Central Valley, were sentenced to eight years and three years in prison, respectively, in federal court in White Plains Monday, Oct. 17.
The pair was previously found guilty of defrauding their lenders and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) following a jury trial in June 2021.
According to prosecutors, Mehdi, age 73, and Saaed, age 39, concealed millions of dollars in dealership profits from the IRS between 2009 and 2016.
In order to falsely lower their business income, the two had their accountant prepare partnership tax returns that “significantly understated” Exclusive Motor Sports’ gross receipts and inventory, prosecutors said.
Those false figures were then listed on their personal tax returns, which were filed with the IRS, resulting in a nearly $1 million underpayment in federal and state taxes, according to investigators.
The younger Moslem used his fraudulent income tax returns and made other false statements in an attempt to conceal his assets from creditors when he filed for bankruptcy in 2015, prosecutors said.
Between 2011 and 2019, prosecutors said the two men also conspired to defraud several financial institutions by submitting falsely inflated net worth statements and fabricated tax returns on loan applications, including for a $1.5 million mortgage on the Exclusive Motor Sports property in Central Valley.
In 2019, Saaed Moslem committed aggravated identity theft by using a customer’s personal ID information on a fraudulent car loan application, prosecutors said.
Both men had been charged with one count of conspiracy and one count of bank fraud. Saeed Moslem was also charged with two counts of making false statements to a lender and one count of making false declarations in a bankruptcy case.
“This father and son duo spent nearly a decade lying about their finances to get millions of dollars in fraudulent loans while hiding their income from the IRS and, in Saaed Moslem’s case, evading his creditors through a fraudulent bankruptcy filing,” US Attorney Damian Williams said.
“Today’s sentences send a strong message that perpetrators of fraud will be held accountable and brought to justice for their actions.”
In addition to their time in prison, Mehdi Moslem was ordered to pay $1,040,685 in restitution and a $100,000 fine.
Saaed Moslem was ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $1,927,303 and a $200,000 fine.
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