Former owner of Long Island auto shops pleads guilty to not reporting $16M in sales to New York state 

A former Shoreham resident who owned several auto body shops on Long Island has pleaded guilty to failing to report $16 million in sales in an effort to avoid paying state sales tax, prosecutors said Thursday.

Timothy Kjaer, 49, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, who previously lived in Shoreham, pleaded guilty before Acting Supreme Court Justice Stephen Braslow to first-degree grand larceny for failing to report the taxable sales in order to steal more than $1.3 million in sales tax money from New York State, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office said in a statement.

"For over a decade, this defendant brazenly stole money from New York State by pocketing the sales tax he collected from customers instead of remitting it to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance," said Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney in a statement.

Kjaer faces 4 to 12 Years in prison if he fails to pay $3 million in restitution by September 2028, as part of the plea, prosecutors said. He’s due back in court in one year.

Kjaer's attorney, Matthew Tuohy, said in a text message: "I’m very happy with the result and agreement. The DA’s office was very thorough, diligent, and organized in what they presented us with. In the end, the plea bargain was beneficial and fair to my client."

From June 1, 2011, to Nov. 30, 2021, Kjaer failed to submit dozens of sales tax returns and falsified others that substantially underreported the taxable sales of his Suffolk County businesses, according to court documents and Kjaer’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution.

Kjaer owned the following businesses that failed to report sales tax revenue to New York State, according to prosecutors:

• Automotive Marine & Styling Center, Inc., and Real Deal Auto Inc. — 1165 E. Main St. in Riverhead

• Not Just Tint, Inc., S & T Autoworks 1, Inc., and S & T Auto Centers, Inc. — 3165  Rte.  112 in Medford

• EZ Credit Auto Sales, Inc. — 2910 Rte. 112 in Medford

• Universal Auto, Inc. — 1831B Rte. 112 in Medford

• Universal Auto Sales & Service, Inc. — 8B Middle Country Rd. Road in Coram

Kjaer failed to report taxable sales of approximately $16,142,986 in order to steal $1,385,605 in sales tax collected on behalf of New York State in total, prosecutors said.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.