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Feds: Gary Barbera driven to defraud IRS

Gary Barbera, the prominent local car dealer, was charged yesterday by the U.S. attorney with committing tax fraud in 2003 and 2004.

    by DAVID GAMBACORTA
    Published 

Gary Barbera, the prominent local car dealer, was charged yesterday by the U.S. attorney with committing tax fraud in 2003 and 2004.

Barbera, 45, is accused of underreporting income from two of his dealerships - Barbera Dodgeland, on Ridge Avenue near Fairthorne Avenue in Roxborough, and Barbera Chryslerland, on Roosevelt Boulevard near Borbeck Avenue in the Northeast - to the tune of $77,675.

Investigators from the IRS found that Barbera had allegedly used his dealerships to pay some personal expenses.

"The license to run a business is not a license to avoid paying taxes like the rest of us," U.S. Attorney Michael Levy said.

"Honest, hardworking Americans pay the price when others conceal their income to avoid paying taxes," said Troy Stemen, the IRS acting special agent-in- charge of criminal investigation.

If convicted, Barbera, who lives in Gladwyne, could face three years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

Advertisements featuring his slogan - "Is Barbera the best? Boy, I guess" - have been ubiquitous on TV, radio and in newspapers in the region for years.