Rug dealer repays $50K in sales tax

An international antique Oriental rug dealer from New York pleaded guilty to felony theft charges Thursday for failing to pay more than $50,000 in state sales tax while operating a liquidation sale in Memphis in 2006.

A contrite Victor Mashihi, who has already repaid the state the full $51,850.88, was placed on judicial diversion and will have his record cleared in three years if he abides by the law.

“I’m so sorry about this,” Mashihi, 60, of Great Neck, N.Y., told Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan. “I’ve never done this before in my life. I was having some financial difficulties at that time.”

Mashihi, a wholesale dealer in the United States and Europe, said he would “rather starve to death” than commit another such crime.

State prosecutor Byron Winsett said Mashihi intentionally failed to report a number of sales when running a going- out- ofbusiness sale for Alan’s Oriental Rugs, charging customers sales tax but not turning it over to the Tennessee Department of Revenue.

“Your victims are all the people of Tennessee,” Winsett told Mashihi. “You would never consider being dishonest with business people, but when it comes to state sales taxes, that’s not so much of problem, is it?”

Defense attorneys Leslie Ballin and Martin Grusin said the sale involved thousands of transactions and that Mashihi agreed to make full restitution as soon as state investigators contacted him.

They submitted letters of support from friends and business associates, including one who said Mashihi once returned $2,000 to a business associate when he realized an error was made in his favor. According to the letter writer, the associate was so impressed with his honesty that he told Mashihi to keep the money.