The owner of a popular restaurant near Wilmington pleaded guilty in Delaware federal court to tax evasion charges.
Domenico Mazzella, owner of Mazzella's Italian Restaurant on Philadelphia Pikw pleaded guilty to four counts of tax evasion and a dozen counts of failure to collect, account for, and pay trust fund taxes.
According to court documents and statements made in court, from at least 2017 through 2020, Mazzella failed to pay employment taxes by paying a number of employees entirely in cash and concealing the cash payroll from his tax preparer.
Mazzella also attempted to evade a large portion of his personal income tax by diverting over $600,000 from the business’s bank accounts to his personal account, characterizing the payments as reimbursements for business expenses. Mazzella’s overstatement of expenses caused his tax preparer to underreport the restaurant’s income, which in turn caused Mazzella’s personal income to be substantially lower on his tax returns.
Mazzella agreed to pay restitution to the IRS $549,370. At sentencing, he faces a maximum of five years in prison for each of the 16 counts of conviction. The court will determine Mazzella’s sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors required by federal law. Sentences are typically shorter than maximus.
The case was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan C. Williamson is prosecuting the case.
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