 
Indiana Auto Glass Shop Owner Convicted of
Ten Felonies
August 17, 2012
by Katie O'Mara, komara@glass.com
An Indianapolis, Ind. auto glass shop owner was convicted yesterday
of ten felonies related to the operation of his business. Tuan A.
Chu has been the owner of a number of auto glass businesses, including
a Glass Medic, Superior Auto Glass and Independent Auto Glass, which
have all been run out of the same location.
Chu was charged in April of 2011 with one count of corrupt business
influence, three counts of evasion of income tax, nine counts of
Class D felony theft and four counts of failure to remit or collect
sales tax. He was accused of failing to pay more than $268,000 in
state income and sales taxes. Chu was found guilty yesterday on
three counts of evasion of income tax, three counts of theft and
four counts of failure to remit or collect sales tax.
The investigation into Chu began when an Indiana State Police Trooper
contacted the office of the Attorney General suspecting that Chu
might be vandalizing vehicles and then contacting the owners to
repair the damaged vehicles. Chu was never arrested for, charged
with or convicted of vandalism. However, the investigation did alert
the office of the Attorney General to some of Chu's actions regarding
his remittance of taxes.
Investigators say that Chu never possessed a registered retail merchant's
certificate and did not file Indiana tax returns from 2005 to 2010.
The state obtained receipts from customers and discovered that,
in some cases, Chu did not collect or remit any sales tax for auto
glass replacement. In other instances Chu overcharged customers
by an additional two percent in sales tax and never remitted the
sales tax to the state. Chu was also charged with a habitual offender
sentence enhancement because of two prior felony convictions for
auto theft and forgery.
"The Attorney General's Office is satisfied with this verdict,"
says Bryan Corbin, public information officer for the Office of
the Indiana Attorney General. "When a merchant engages in sales
tax evasion, it creates an unlevel playing field and undercuts legitimate
businesspeople who pay their taxes and play by the rules. We support
the efforts of our colleagues in the Marion County Prosecutor's
Office, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the
Indiana State Police whose hard work and diligence allowed the State
to bring this defendant to justice."
Chu will be sentenced on September 7.
This story is an original story by AGRR™ magazine/glassBYTEs.com™. Subscribe to AGRR™ Magazine.
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