INVESTIGATION
Four pizzeria owners accused of tax fraud
Four area pizzeria owners have been arrested for allegedly filing false sales tax returns that defrauded the state of more than $200,000 in sales tax revenue, the state Department of Taxation and Finance announced.
Charged were:
•Robert K. Nye, owner of Jaco’s Pizzeria on Buffalo Avenue in Niagara Falls.
• Richard M. Teso, of Teso’s Pizza Cafe on Main Street in Clarence.
• John P. Carroll, of Poppa’s Pizzaria on Oliver Street in North Tonawanda.
• Jason Majewski, of Pizza Works on Maple Road in Williamsville.
Tax Commissioner Robert L. Megna said Monday that the four pizza owners underreported their taxable sales to the state by a total of $2.5 million.
“In the past year, the department has significantly increased its commitment to combating tax fraud as part of our effort to close the tax gap,” Megna said. “Our newly formed [investigations unit] is working across the state . . . to expose and prosecute those who engage in tax fraud.”
Nye was charged with eight counts each of offering a false instrument for filing and filing false returns between March 2006 and last February. He allegedly failed to report more than $1.3 million in taxable sales, resulting in more than $110,000 in sales tax receipts, officials said.
Teso faces a dozen counts on each charge for allegedly failing to report $235,000 in taxable sales in a loss of more than $20,000 in sales tax to the state. His false returns were allegedly made between March 2004 and February 2007.
Carroll faces nine counts each for allegedly filing false returns between June 2005 and August 2007. Authorities say he didn’t report more than $300,000 in taxable sales, resulting in a loss of more than $24,000 in sales tax receipts.
Majewski, the owner and sole shareholder of Kathy’s Keepers, which does business as Pizza Works, was charged with 10 counts each. State officials allege Majewski didn’t report more than $690,000 in taxable sales that resulted in a loss of more than $58,000 in sales tax receipts.
Each count of offering a false instrument for filing, a felony, carries up to four years in prison. The filing false returns are misdemeanors, which are punishable by up to a year in jail.
