Convenience store ownder arrested under new tax fraud law

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December 23, 2009 12:46 PM

The Monitor

McALLEN — A McAllen business owner was arrested Tuesday after being indicted on four felony counts of failure to remit sales tax collected on alcohol and tobacco and two felony counts of falsifying records.

Rogelio Ramirez, owner of two Pepe's Drive In stores in McAllen, is alleged to have collected and not remitted at least $320,000 in sales taxes since 2006, according to the indictment ia Travis County grand jury issued Nov. 30.

The indictment is the first in Texas based on an investigation using a fraud detection tool initiated by Texas Comptroller Susan Combs and passed by the state Legislature in 2007.

The law requires distributors of alcohol and tobacco products to report sales to retail outlets monthly, giving auditors the ability to compare the distributors' reports against taxable sales already reported by retailers. Distributor reporting required under the law began in January 2008.

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