newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

A Colts Neck man who owned a portion of an Eatontown sushi restaurant and managed another, pleaded guilty last week to tax and social security benefits fraud he obtained by failing to report income and fraudulently obtaining SSI disability and child’s insurance benefits for himself and his children for more than 10 years.

Court documents show Peter Wagar, 50, was partner/manager of Sawa Sushi in Eatontown and the general manager of Sawa Sushi in Long Branch from September 2006 through September 2009 where he earned cash and bonuses of approximately $186,317. In October 2009, Wagar sold his 13.33 percent ownership stake in the Long Branch eatery for $600,000 netting in a long-term capital gain of $100,000, said prosecutors

According to information in the charging indictment, for four years beginning in 2006, the defendant intentionally failed to report to his tax preparer any of the $286,317 of combined income he earned from both restaurants. Wagar's deceit resulted in a loss of $71,923 to the Internal Revenue Service.

Furthermore, in September 1998, the defendant filed a claim for child and disability insurance benefits from the Social Security Administration declaring that in May 1997 glaucoma rendered him unable to work. The SSA approved retroactive payments of more than $2,500 per month to Wagar based upon his false claim. In 2007, he submitted a work activity report to the agency claiming to still be disabled, adding that he had not earned any income or received any special work conditions in the past ten years. Wagar's theft netted approximately $61,000 in illegally obtained payments for him and his children.

Wagar's plea to the tax charge carries a three-year prison term and a $100,000 fine. The disability fraud charge carries a five-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is set for Dec. 20.

Earlier this month in Newark federal court, Wagar's business partners and the owners of both restaurants, brothers-in-law Mou Chor "Kenny" Tung, 44, and Sin Ching "Alton" Chang, 35, pleaded guilty to one count each of failure to collect and pay payroll taxes in excess of $300,000 from 2007 through 2010, the Long Branch Patch reported.

Tung, of Colts Neck, was also charged with harboring and employing illegal aliens to whom he provided social security numbers. The individuals worked at the Eatontown location and resided in properties purchased by Tung in Long Branch. Tung and Chang, of Long Branch, could receive as many as five years in prison and a $10,000 fine on the tax evasion charges. Tung faces an additional term of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the harboring charge.Sentencing for both men is scheduled for November 9.