The former director of finance for packaging-machine maker Winpak Lane’s California office has pled guilty to tax and embezzlement charges.

Carroll Aguillard appeared in U.S. District Court on Monday to answer charges that he subscribed to false tax returns for the years 2004 and 2005. The charges were detailed in a criminal information filed by prosecutors last month after an investigation by the Los Angeles field office of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Santa Ana.

Aguillard appeared at a post-indictment arraignment to answer to the tax charges pending against him. The charges stem from Aguillard’s embezzlement of money and his failure to report authorized bonuses he received from his employer, Winpak Lane, over a period of several years to the IRS.

Aguillard agreed to plead guilty to two counts of subscribing to false tax returns and admitted that he knowingly failed to report on his income tax returns more than $547,000 in proceeds he received from his embezzlement scheme, as well as money he was paid as bonuses for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005.  Aguillard is expected to enter his guilty plea to the charges later this year.  

As the director of finance for Winpak Lane, Aguillard was responsible for overseeing payroll and had the authority to transfer money into and out of Winpak Lane’s bank accounts. Using this authority, Aguillard embezzled the money by adding unauthorized funds to his normal salary payment, making unauthorized wire transfers to his personal bank account, according to prosecutors. In addition, Aguillard allegedly falsified the amount of tax withheld on his W-2 forms that were later filed with the IRS.

Aguillard faces up to six years in prison and fines totaling $200,000. He was released on $5,000 bond.  His case was assigned to U.S. District Judge David O. Carter for all further proceedings.