By THOMAS HARTLEY
Business First

A North Tonawanda man has become the third Buffalo-area used-car dealer in 10 months charged with tax-law violations stemming from the sale of vehicles.

Todd Hammar, 39, of 7110 Marigold St., North Tonawanda, was arrested Jan. 17 by agents from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance's Revenue Crimes Bureau and charged with underreporting the value of vehicles he sold and stealing sales-tax collections.

Hammar was the owner of Delaware Auto Leasing, 55 Delaware St., Tonawanda, which is now closed.

His arrest resulted from a customer complaint that his sales contract did not accurately reflect the amount he paid for a car purchased from Hammar in July 2007.

A joint investigation with the state Department of Motor Vehicles determined that the July sale was not an isolated case, the Taxation Department said in a news release announcing the arrest.

Hammar was arraigned in Tonawanda City Court on a felony charge of grand larceny, pleaded not guilty, and was released on $10,000 bail. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison.

The previous cases involving used-auto dealers included Michael Wolfberg, who admitted in April 2007 to stealing $733,000 in sales-tax revenue, and Robert Vernon, who was charged in a warrant issued last October with filing a false sales-tax return.

Erie County Assistant District Attorney James Auricchio said Vernon, who operated Variety Motors at 2204 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo, escaped the country before the warrant could be served and is in Australia.

Wolfberg, operator of Premium Auto on Sheridan Drive, Amherst, was sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to make $733,000 in restitution plus penalties and charges. Auricchio said that before he was sentenced, Wolfberg repaid $106,000.

"We have come across too many instances of underreporting and dishonest car dealers who pocket the sales tax owed to local communities and the state," said Barbara Billet, acting commissioner of the state Department of Taxation and Finance.

Since New York's Crimes Against Revenue program began in 2004, Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark's office has obtained judgments totaling more than $1.6 million.