Nazareth area man paid for Caribbean vacation but didn’t pay $730K in payroll taxes, feds say

A Nazareth area man used funds from his trucking company on a Caribbean vacation and other luxuries while failing to pay more than $730,000 in federal payroll taxes, according to court documents.

A criminal information filed Friday in federal court says Michael Gerstenberg failed to pay $732,291 in payroll taxes for his company, A.E. Logistics of Allentown.

The documents say the funds were withheld from employee paychecks but never sent to the Internal Revenue Service from 2010 to 2015.

The documents say Gerstenberg used company funds “to pay for a wide variety of extravagant personal expenses such as a Caribbean vacation and other travel, gambling, jewelry, fine dining, country club dues, nightclubs and entertainment” for himself, family and friends.

The company’s address isn’t listed in court documents but a public records search shows it listed at 1801 S. 12th Street in Allentown. No one answered the phone at the number listed for the company.

Gerstenberg is also accused of filing a false income tax return for his girlfriend in 2012. The documents say he grossly inflated her salary, listed on tax records as $52,000. She didn’t know about the false return, court papers say.

The criminal information says he did the same thing in 2013, falsely reporting she earned $61,000.

Gerstenberg is accused of tax evasion and fraud, the documents say.

The information says Gerstenberg lives in Nazareth but doesn’t list his street address. Public records show addresses for Michael Gerstenberg in Lower Nazareth Township, Bushkill Township and Nazareth. Attempts to reach him via telephone or on social media were unsuccessful.

The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter@RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.