Former Owners of Ohio Flooring Retailer Face Tax C

Columbus, OH, October 6, 2005--A federal grand jury in Columbus handed up a seven-count indictment Wednesday alleging tax evasion, conspiracy to commit tax fraud and filing false income tax returns against the company's former owners and their associates, said U.S. Attorney Gregory Lockhart. The government accused Leif Rozin, 52, of Bonita Springs, Florida, and Burton "Buddy" Kallick, 74, of Cincinnati of taking out sham "loss of income" insurance policies to sweep revenue under the rug. Also indicted were: Alan Koehler, 44, of Purcellville, Virginia, Buddy's Carpet's former in-house counsel. Milton Liss, 62, of Cincinnati, the company's investment and insurance adviser. Bruce Cohen, 60, of Louisville, Kentucky, a financial services and insurance salesman. Rozin and Kallick sold Buddy's Carpet in 2000, but before they did, the government alleges they spent $3.6 million on false insurance policies to conceal income. The policies were false because the pair secretly retained control over most of the money, according to the indictment. The five men were charged with conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, which carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Rozin was charged with filing a false tax return; its top penalty is three years in jail and a $250,000 fine. Koehler, Cohen and Liss were each charged with three counts of helping prepare a false tax return, and Kallick was hit with one count of helping prepare a false tax return. Those charges carry a sentence of three years and $250,000 in fines. Kallick and Rozin each face a count of attempted tax evasion, which carries a top fine of five years in jail and $250,000 fine. Buddy's Carpet has about 35 stores in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Kallick once was the company's top pitchman, who assured customers in advertisements that they had "a buddy in the carpet business."