TWO VALLEY BUSINESSMEN LOSERS IN TAX-FRAUD GAMBLE.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

The owners of a Van Nuys tax preparation business and Woodland Hills trading corporation have pleaded guilty to charges in a tax fraud scheme involving phony winnings from horse tracks, Internal Revenue Service officials said Tuesday.

Manuel Zajdman, 66, owner of Woodland Hills-based Mavix International Trading Corp., pleaded guilty Tuesday, admitting in court that he and Carlos Alvarez, 42, owner of A&B Professional Services of Van Nuys, filed eight false income tax returns that claimed refunds of more than $322,000, IRS spokesman Gary Tang said.

Alvarez had pleaded guilty in August.

Prosecutors said the men obtained Social Security numbers and other information about various people and then filed false returns in their names.

The returns claimed that those people had won large sums at Southern California racetracks and also lost large amounts gambling. They sought refunds based on amounts supposedly withheld at the racetracks toward income taxes.

In fact, the winnings and withholdings were bogus, as were the W-2G forms submitted along with the tax returns, Tang said.

As part of the scheme, the conspirators used various false addresses, including commercial mailbox addresses, to receive the refunds sent by the IRS because of the false returns, Tang said.

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com