Former San Jose High-End Car Dealer Sentenced For Tax Evasion: DA

SANTA CLARA VALLEY, CA — A former San Jose high-end used car dealer whom prosecutors say failed to pay close to $400,000 in sales tax by under-reporting his sales was sentenced to three years in prison this week, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office said in a news release Tuesday.

Mohammad Hassan Mostafavi, 31, operated Euro on West San Carlos Street in San Jose from June 2006 until approximately May 2012. Evidence submitted in a jury trial showed Mostafavi reported that he made about $1.8 million in vehicle sales over three years, said Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Erica Engin of the DA's Major Fraud Unit.

"In fact, he made about $6.8 million," Engin said.

The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration first audited Mostafavi after he was allegedly chronically late filing tax returns and making sales tax payments. State auditors then began a criminal investigation against him, and his license to sell cars was soon revoked and his business closed, the DA's Office said.

"Sales taxes are used to repair potholes, educate our children, protect our neighborhoods," Engin said. "When you steal from the state coffer, you are stealing from the public."

A restitution hearing for Mostafavi, who was convicted of three counts of felony sales tax evasion on Oct. 24, 2017, has been rescheduled by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Drew Takaichi for March 9.

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