Scheme to avoid car tax results in four arrests
BY KATHY BARATTA Staff Writer

MANALAPAN - A four-month effort by several law enforcement agencies that originated in Manalapan broke up a plot that authorities allege was cheating the state out of hundreds of thousands of tax dollars.

Manalapan police and agents from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, and the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, Office of Insurance Fraud started an investigation in March that culminated in the arrest of four individuals who were charged in connection with fraudulent activity related to the export of luxury cars.

The arrests were made June 27 and June 30. One of the people who was arrested is a resident of Manalapan.

Manalapan police Capt. Louis Moreto said the investigation began in March after a "questionable document" was brought to Manalapan police by an individual who suspected fraud regarding a motor vehicle document.

According to Moreto, police are alleging that the suspects were also altering vehicle odometers as well as falsifying documents.

Moreto said Manalapan Detective Thomas Mantle launched an investigation and ended up being provided information from the Trenton branch of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission which indicated fraudulent activity by a Hasbrouck Heights-based company named GEMP LLC.

An Internet Web site describes GEMP as an auto dealer.

Hasbrouck Heights is in Bergen County, about an hour north of Manalapan.

Moreto said because the investigation is continuing, he could not be any more specific with the details of how GEMP operated except to say, "They titled cars in a fashion where they didn't have to pay tax."

According to Moreto, the company and the individuals who were arrested were involved in shipping Mercedes, Lexus and BMW vehicles out of the United States after they had defrauded New Jersey out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales tax by fraudulently titling the highend vehicles.

The service of search warrants yielded the recovery by police of $750,000 plus the arrest of four individuals: two people who were arrested subsequent to a 6 a.m. service of the search warrants June 27 and two more people who were arrested June 30.

The two people who were arrested on June 27 were Ilya Igdalev, 45, of Cresskill, and Ronni Raphaelov, 27, at his home-based business in Manalapan, All City Transportation. Both individuals were placed in jail with bail set at $50,000 each.

On June 30, Alexander Aronov, 39, of Staten Island, N.Y., and Andrew Lovrich, 23, of Ramsey, were arrested. Aronov was placed in jail with bail set at $50,000. Lovrich was released on his own recognizance.

All four individuals are facing charges of tampering with public documents and falsifying public documents.

Raphaelov, who lives on Lone Star Lane, Manalapan, was the only Manalapan resident arrested; however, another Manalapan residence at 94 Pease Road had a search warrant executed the same day, which resulted in items being removed from that home.

Moreto said he was not allowed to elaborate on what those items were.

According to Moreto, the search warrants that were executed yielded, along with the $750,000, 25 "high end" vehicles that were seized by law enforcement agents.

Moreto said authorities are still actively investigating the matter in an attempt to identify all of the principals of the company. He said additional charges and more arrests are expected.

"It is nice to see that agencies can work together for the benefit of the public and bring these people to justice," he said.