Glendale man charged with tax evasion, defrauding employer of office supplies

A 36-year-old Glendale man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he filed bogus tax returns and defrauded his employer of $159,000, authorities announced Wednesday.

Jose Antonio Sanchez was indicted on 16 counts of mail fraud and filing four fake tax returns in which he failed to report more than $340,000 in income to the Internal Revenue Service, according to the agency.

Sanchez allegedly filed bogus tax returns from 2005 to 2008, according to the 20-count federal indictment.

Sanchez appeared in court Tuesday to be arraigned on the allegations, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Paul Rochmes, who is handling the case.

Sanchez was working as a mail clerk for Glendale-based ACCO Engineered Systems in the 6200 block of San Fernando Road, where he ordered supplies for the company's Xerox copier, according to the indictment.

But he instead had the supplies sent to a copier supplies dealer and other locations not associated with ACCO.

Sanchez allegedly then told his employer's accounts payable personnel that they already received the goods, so they paid more than $159,000, according to the indictment. One of the company's largest payments for copier supplies was $32,121.

Meanwhile, Sanchez allegedly sold the supplies to the dealer and others “for his own benefit,” according to the indictment.

Calls to Sanchez's former employer were not returned Wednesday.

In 2008, Sanchez claimed in his tax filing that he and his wife made $43,743, but IRS officials believe he received more than $200,000 in additional income that year from an unidentified copier supplies dealer.

If convicted on all 16 counts of mail fraud, Sanchez faces up to 320 years in prison. He could also get another three years for allegedly filing false tax returns.

Sanchez is scheduled to appear in federal court on Aug. 6.

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