Two former Kraus-Anderson construction company executives have been charged in federal court in St. Paul with tax evasion for allegedly failing to disclose work that a landscaper had done on their personal properties.
The charges against Gary Robert Hook, a former vice president with Kraus-Anderson, and Scott Allan Crawford, a former project manager in the company's Circle Pines office, were filed Friday and made public Monday morning.
The U.S. attorney's office charged both men separately with filing false 2006 tax returns. The charges were by felony information, rather than by a grand jury indictment, a procedure that often indicates the defendants don't plan to contest the charges.
According to court documents, the charges are related to the recent prosecution of Luther Hochradel, 60, the former owner of Windsor Companies in Maplewood. Hochradel waived indictment and pleaded guilty March 28 to having knowledge of certain felonies without reporting them to authorities. He is cooperating with authorities as he awaits sentencing.
Hochradel is an award-winning landscaper who has worked for some top Twin Cities executives. He sold Windsor to Chaska-based LAC Enterprises.
Investigators said Hochradel provided Hook and Crawford with invoices that allowed them to bill the work he did on their homes to Kraus-Anderson contracts.
Al Gerhardt, Kraus-Anderson's chief operating officer, said earlier that the company is cooperating with authorities. An internal investigation uncovered violations of the company's ethics and conflict-of-interest policies, he said.
Gerhardt said the company has no indication that its customers paid for Hook's and Crawford's landscaping. The company may have done so, but not the customers, he said.
