Retired auto dealer James Pflueger pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court yesterday to tax fraud charges.

A U.S. magistrate judge allowed Pflueger, 84, to remain free on $100,000 signature bond pending trial in December.

Pflueger and his son Alan face federal criminal charges that they had the car dealership pay for some of their personal expenses and failed to list those paid expenses as income on their tax returns. The elder Pflueger and his accountant, Dennis Lawrence Duban, also face charges that they failed to report proceeds from a 2007 California land sale and sent the money to a Swiss bank account.

Duban also pleaded not guilty in federal court yesterday and is free on $100,000 signature bond.

Alan Pflueger, whose full name is Charles Alan Pflueger; his executive assistant Julie Ann Kam; and Pflueger Inc. Chief Financial Officer Randall Ken Kurata are scheduled to appear in court Friday.

Kam and Kurata face charges that they conspired to defraud the government. The indictment says Kurata filed false tax returns for the auto dealership. It also says Kam received more income than she reported in 2004 and 2005.

James Pflueger reported his income was $707,871 in 2004 and $4.8 million in 2007 when he knew it was more than that, according to a grand jury indictment returned last month.

Alan Pflueger reported his income was $198,213 in 2003, $241,114 in 2004 and $695,724 in 2005. Over that same period, Pflueger and Kurata signed company checks to pay for Pflueger’s personal expenses, according to the indictment.