BABYLON, NY – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced today that Brian Soltan, 62, of West Islip, and Gerald McCrystal, 51, of Dix Hills, have been sentenced after pleading guilty to grand larceny for stealing sales tax money from New York State in separate cases.
District Attorney Tierney emphasized the seriousness of tax fraud, stating that both Soltan and McCrystal collected sales tax from customers but then underreported these sales on numerous returns and failed to remit the collected taxes to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Tierney underscored that such actions undermine the tax system and unfairly burden law-abiding citizens and businesses.
According to the press release. rom January 2011 to November 2015, Soltan, owner of multiple auto body businesses in East Islip, admitted to not reporting approximately $2,817,951 in taxable sales, resulting in $244,799 in stolen sales taxes. His businesses included Long Island Auto Body, Inc., Long Island Auto Collision, Inc., Long Island Towing & Auto Body, Inc., Long Island Towing & Collision, Inc., East Islip’s Auto Collision, Inc., East Islip Collision, Inc., and High End Collision, Inc.
Similarly, between February 2008 and November 2015, McCrystal, who owned furniture stores in Farmingdale, admitted to not reporting $8,979,157 in taxable sales, resulting in $744,865 in stolen sales taxes. His businesses included Levetz, Inc., Roma Fli Corporation, and Roma New York, Inc.
Both defendants acknowledged that they intentionally failed to remit the collected sales tax funds to the state.
On September 18, 2019, Soltan pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class D felony, and was required to pay $250,000 in restitution before his sentencing on June 26, 2024. He was represented by Robert Macedonio, Esq.
McCrystal pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a Class E felony, on June 26, 2024, and was sentenced immediately afterward. As part of his plea agreement, he was required to pay $745,000 in restitution. He was represented by Matthew Rosenblum, Esq.
Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sacks of the Financial Crimes Bureau prosecuted these cases. Senior Detective Investigator George Bean of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office led the investigation into Soltan’s case, with assistance from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance in both cases.
