Tax Preparer Admits Assisting in Preparation of False Partnership Tax Return for Kushner Companies

NEWARK – The tax preparer on a series of real-estate partnerships controlled by Charles Kushner pleaded guilty today for aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false and fraudulent partnership tax return, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Anne Amici, 46, of Point Pleasant, who at the time of the offense worked as a tax preparer for a Roseland accounting firm specializing in servicing the real-estate industry, entered her guilty plea before Judge Jose L. Linares this morning.

The count charged that in April 2001, Amici aided and assisted in the preparation and presentation of a U.S. Partnership Tax Return, IRS Forms 1065, which falsely characterized gift and entertainment charges as fully deductible business expenses. The false return had the effect of creating thousands of dollars worth of deductible expenses.

Kushner, a real estate mogul and national and state political contributor, was sentenced on March 4, 2005, to a 24-month sentence for his convictions on charges of assisting in the filing of false tax returns relating to the Kushner Companies, retaliating against a cooperating witness and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas J. Eicher, Rachael A. Honig, and Hallie A. Mitchell who are prosecuting the case, the charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Marci Plotkin, the former accountant on the Kushner Companies partnerships, and Stanley Bekritsky, the tax partner on the Kushner Companies partnerships, previously plead guilty to a conspiracy count that charged participation in a scheme to create false partnership tax returns for the properties controlled by the Kushner Companies by intentionally mischaracterizing millions of dollars worth of charitable and political contributions, capital items and gift-and-entertainment charges as business expenses. The scheme had the effect of creating millions of dollars worth of deductible expenses, which the partnerships and partners could use to offset earnings in current and future years. The scheme is charged to have involved the mischaracterization of more than $6 million worth of expenses.

One other alleged member of the conspiracy is scheduled to start trial on March 31 before Judge Linares. He is Richard Stadtmauer, 49, of Livingston, the Vice Chairman, Managing Partner, and Vice President of the Kushner Companies. In addition to the conspiracy charge, Stadtmauer faces 17 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false partnership tax returns.

In determining an actual sentence, Judge Linares will consult the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant’s criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in
determining a sentence.

Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all the time.

Christie credited Special Agents of the IRS, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge William P. Offord, and Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dunn, with developing the case against Plotkin.

The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eicher, the Attorney in Charge of the Trenton Office of the USAO, Honig and Mitchell of the U.S. Attorney's Special Prosecutions Division, in Newark.

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