Arizona grand jury hands out 19-count indictment against BHPH operator

For the second time this month, authorities have made moves involving a dealership operating in Arizona; this time a buy-here, pay-here operation in the state’s largest market.

Arizona attorney general Mark Brnovich and the Arizona Department of Revenue announced a state grand jury returned a 19-count indictment against Jalisco Corp., which includes Jalisco Auto Sales and its owner-operator Maria Gutierrez.

The indictment accuses Gutierrez of falsifying Jalisco Auto Sales’ transaction privilege or sales tax returns between Jan. 1, 2015 and July 26, 2016, by underreporting the number of vehicles sold.  It is alleged that

Jalisco Auto Sales charged its customers for sales tax but failed to remit the collected taxes to the Arizona Department of Revenue.

Investigators said Jalisco Auto Sales avoided approximately $100,000 in state, county and city sales tax through the false filings.

Officials added this indictment, which can be viewed here, was the result of a cooperative investigation between the Arizona attorney general’s office and the Arizona Department of Revenue.

“All defendants are presumed innocent until convicted in a court of law,” state officials went on to say.

At the beginning of August, the Federal Trade Commission charged a group of four dealers operating in Arizona and New Mexico, near the border of the Navajo Nation, with a range of illegal activities, including falsifying consumers’ income and down payment information on vehicle financing applications and misrepresenting important financial terms in vehicle advertisements.