Milwaukee Business Owner Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud Conspiracy |
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Topics: WI Automotive T.R.U.S.T., DOT Automotive, Tedmund Blankschein
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U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Wisconsin
12 September 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
United States Attorney Matthew D. Krueger of the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on September 12, 2019, Tedmund Blankschein, 51, plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by impeding the Internal Revenue Service in connection with his and Albert Golant’s luxury vehicle brokerage businesses, WI Automotive T.R.U.S.T., Lease, Registration, and Consulting LLC, and DOT Automotive of WI LLC, from at least May 2013 to May 2017. This offense carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, or both.
According to court documents, Blankschein and Golant were in the business of purchasing luxury vehicles in the United States and then selling them at a substantial profit to foreign buyers overseas, typically in China. Both Blankschein and Golant had control over multiple business and personal bank accounts that they used to divert corporate receipts of WI Automotive T.R.U.S.T., Lease, Registration, and Consulting LLC, and DOT Automotive of WI LLC, which were supposed to be used to purchase specific luxury vehicles. Blankschein and Golant used the diverted funds to gamble and to purchase personal items such as expensive jewelry, which they concealed from their accountant. Instead, Golant falsely told their accountant that these funds were used to purchase luxury vehicles and should be deducted as expenses on their tax returns. As a result, their tax returns substantially overstated business expenses. Blankschein and Golant underreported the income from WI Automotive T.R.U.S.T., Lease, Registration, and Consulting LLC, and DOT Automotive of WI LLC by more than $12 million, generating a tax loss to the United States of more than $5.4 million.
This matter was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Laura S. Kwaterski.