A Hastings man facing three charges of aiding in the preparation of fraudulent tax returns, according to the MN Department of Revenue. In a press release issued by the Department of Revenue, Jeffrey McKenzie, 59, the co-owner of 61 Marine and Sports, Inc. in Cottage Grove, allegedly withheld about $3.2 million in taxes. An investigation by the MDOR began in 2018 after receiving information that the business was not reporting all of the sales tax it collected, according to the criminal complaint. The initial investigation found that it was likely that a large amount of sales tax was being underreported to the MDOR. Authorities obtained search warrants and seized financial documents from the company. According to the complaint, the documents showed that sales figures did not match sales tax filings for multiple periods from January 2013 through September 2018. The complaint states that it was McKenzie?s responsibility to provide the company?s sales tax information to their accountant, and claims that he knowingly underreported taxable sales for the business.
