The founder and the former vice president of the Baron’s Market grocery chain were sentenced by a federal judge in San Diego Wednesday for their role in a long-running tax evasion scheme masterminded by the former rabbi of Chabad of Poway.
Yousef Shemirani,75, and Bijan Moossazadeh, 63, pleaded guilty in July to a charge of filing a false tax return. Shemirani, the founder of the chain, was sentenced to two years of supervised release with four months of that on home confinement. His cousin Moossazadeh, former vice president of the company, was sentenced to three months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release.
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Each also was ordered to perform 50 hours of community service and pay a $10,000 fine by U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant. Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego had recommended no time in custody for either.
The pair admitted to participating in a tax fraud plan of Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who also pleaded guilty in July to tax and wire fraud stemming from years of running schemes involving tax, real estate, insurance and grant frauds.
The cousins were part of Goldstein’s “90/10” tax fraud scheme, federal prosecutors wrote in court papers for the sentencing. In that fraud, Goldstein recruited people to make a large donation to chabad, then provided a letter on letterhead attesting to the donation for tax purposes. Goldstein then secretly kicked back 90 percent of the contribution and kept 10 percent for himself.
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That allowed the donors to claim a large tax deduction, because the chabad is a nonprofit entity, while actually being out only a fraction of that amount. From 2011 to 2016, Shemirani made $137,650 in bogus donations, got back $123,885 and avoided paying $39,907 in taxes, prosecutors wrote.
For his part, Moossazadeh from 2012 through 2018 made $290,000 in “donations,” got back $261,000 and avoided $91,561 in taxes. When confronted by federal authorities, who had been investigating Goldstein and had searched his home and office in late 2017, Moossazadeh and Shemirani cooperated and admitted guilt early on. They have paid all restitution to the IRS for the unpaid tax, interest and penalties.
Goldstein has been cooperating with federal authorities since the search and has yet to be sentenced, though prosecutors said when he pleaded guilty they will recommend he not spend any time in prison. On Oct. 1 another defendant, 83-year-old Boris Shkoller, who pleaded guilty to tax fraud for the same 90/10 scheme, was sentenced to a year of probation.
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