OXNARD : Man Admits Tax, Conspiracy Charges

Former Oxnard businessman Martin S. Anderson pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy to defraud Point Mugu Naval Air Station and Unocal Corp. and one count of submitting a false corporate income tax claim in 1986, authorities said.

In an indictment that accused him and two other men of bilking up to $1.5 million from Point Mugu and Unocal, Anderson was charged with two counts of reporting false income tax claims, one count of conspiracy to defraud the government, 13 counts of false claims against the government and 12 counts of mail fraud.

All but the two charges to which Anderson pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles will be dropped at a sentencing hearing scheduled for Dec. 9, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Patricia Beaman.

Ventura resident Erwin H. Muller, also named in the indictment with Camarillo resident Bill M. Frazier, will be sentenced Dec. 9, Beaman said. Muller pleaded guilty to one count of defrauding Point Mugu and Unocal and one count of filing a false income tax return.

Anderson, who was president and a 20% stockholder in the now-defunct Anderson Industrial Supply, admitted to approving a fraudulent billing scheme and paying kickbacks to Unocal purchasing agents, Beaman said.

The conspiracy count carries a maximum penalty of a $250,000 fine and five years imprisonment and the income tax count carries a maximum penalty of a $250,000 fine and three years imprisonment.

Authorities said the scheme involved the submission of false and inflated invoices by Anderson Industrial to the naval air station and Unocal. Two fictional businesses in Ventura and Thousand Oaks were established to supply false invoices, authorities said.