There’s nothing more Philly than a cheesesteak, however the owners of 1 popular shop are actually famous for something aside from the food.
Nicholas Lucidonio, 57, and Anthony Lucidonio Sr., 84, the owners of Tony Luke’s, a beloved cheesesteak chain in business since 1992, were each sentenced to twenty months in prison and three years of supervised release for a “decade-long conspiracy to defraud the IRS,” in accordance with a government press release.
There are currently 17 restaurants operating under the Tony Luke’s brand and franchise name. The unique is situated at Front Street and Oregon Avenue in South Philadelphia.
Court documents say that the Lucidonios concealed greater than $8 million in money receipts between 2006 and 2016 and purposely withheld money receipts, which led to their accountant filing falsified tax returns without his knowledge.
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The daddy and son duo were also accused of not documenting some worker payments and paying staff partially in money but continuing to pay most of their earnings on payroll. These money payments were also not reported to their accountant, which led to falsified and incorrect worker tax return forms.
“For a decade, these successful restaurateurs boldly cooked the books, cheating the federal government and honest taxpayers alike,” said U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero, per local outlet, NBC 10. “As this investigation and prosecution show, tax fraud is a criminal offense with some pretty high stakes, with violators held fully accountable.”
The tax fraud scheme was originally uncovered in 2015.
“When a dispute over Tony Luke’s franchising rights arose between the Lucidonios and one other individual in 2015, the Lucidonios became concerned that their tax fraud scheme can be revealed, in order that they directed that the prior 12 months’s tax returns be amended to extend reported sales,” the U.S. Department of Justice explained in a statement. “The Lucidonios continued to cover their ongoing payroll tax scheme.”
The scheme has cost the U.S. government an estimated $1,321,042.
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