Architectural Firm Owner Sentenced to Three Months in Prison on Tax Fraud Charge

The owner of an architectural firm that once served the Toms River Regional School District and Ocean County College was sentenced to three months in prison and three months of house arrest after admitting to filing fraudulent business tax returns, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced Wednesday.

Pravin H. Patel, 67, of Toms River, pleaded guilty in February to charges that he falsely passed off hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal expenses as tax deductions for his company, Pravin H. Patel Associates Inc.

In addition to the prison and house arrest terms, Patel was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to two years of supervised release—including the three months of house arrest—and ordered to pay a $15,000 fine. 

The maximum penalty for the charge is three years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, Fishman said in February when Patel's plea was entered.

Patel is founder and president of Pravin H. Patel Associates, the firm that once served as the Toms River Regional School’s engineer, architect and planner.

District officials said the firm was in place from 1993 through the last day of the fiscal year 2011, when a pool of seven engineers were contracted by the district. The district in 2013 approved the use of a single engineer, Maser Consulting.

Patel in February admitted to improperly using funds to reduce the tax liability owed by his company, including $112,650 in payments for renovations on his personal residence in 2006, according to Fishman. 

"Patel also admitted that the corporate tax return for the year ending in March 2007 improperly included more than $8,200 in expenses related to a personal country club membership and associated fees, as well as numerous personal expenses paid through a corporate credit card," Fishman said in a statement. "Patel admitted that the corporate tax return for the year ending in March 2007 included false deductions of more than $145,000 and that the tax loss over a four-year period for which he is criminally liable totaled $63,815."

Patel's Toms River home was surrounded by law enforcement in July 2011, though authorities then declined to comment on what they were doing there.