Fort Lee Businessman Faces Years in Prison for Employee Tax Con

A Fort Lee businessman pleaded guilty Monday to charges that he used more than a quarter of a million dollars of his employees’ tax money to fund a lavish lifestyle.

Trevor Whittingham, who owned and operated two Manhattan parking lots, was accused of failing to send $251,265 to the IRS over a period that stretched across four years, according to a indictment filed earlier this year by Preet Bharara, a U.S. Attorney for New York’s Southern District. 

“The majority of those payroll taxes were not paid over to the IRS as required. Instead, Whittingham used the corporate fund of EZ Going Park Here and We Have Cars II to pay for various personal items and otherwise finance a lavish lifestyle,” Bharara wrote in the indictment. 

Whittingham, 63, agreed to make restitution for the full amount and faces up to 5 years in prison, according to a report published on northjersey.com Monday. Sentencing is scheduled for November.