Ex-LI car dealer faces larceny charges

A former Long Island car dealer charged with scamming the state out of $2.3 million in sales taxes has been extradited from Canada after a four-year battle and faces several counts of larceny and fraud, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown announced.

Boris Michaelov, 43, an Israeli citizen, underreported sales of used cars by $28 million from 2001 to 2005 at two dealerships on Hempstead Turnpike in Elmont — Bill Johnson Auto Sales and Lefferts Auto Sales, Brown’s office has said.

“When consumers pay sales taxes, they expect those funds to go into the public treasury — not into the business owner’s pockets,” Brown said. “This is the type of crime that makes every New Yorker a victim by cheating the government and the public out of money that is especially needed in the ongoing fiscal crisis.”

Michaelov pleaded not guilty Friday to 28 counts of larceny, conspiracy, falsifying business records and filing false instruments. He was held without bail. Michaelov’s attorney, Ben Brafman, had no comment.

He lived in Forest Hills during the alleged crimes. He was deported to Israel for an immigration violation and then moved to Canada by the time charges were filed in 2007.