April 17, 2003

PRESS RELEASE

DUNKIN' DONUTS OWNER SENTENCED FOR TAX FRAUD

Boston, MA... A Reading, Massachusetts man, the owner of numerous Dunkin' Donuts franchises, was sentenced Tuesday, April 15, 2003 in federal court for tax charges.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan and Joseph A. Galasso, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, announced today that TIBERIO "BARRY" FURTADO, age 57, of Reading, Massachusetts, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to 2 years' probation, with the special condition that he serve the first 4 months in community confinement and the next 4 months in home detention with electronic monitoring. FURTADO was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine. FURTADO pleaded guilty on September 4, 2002 to an Information charging him with subscribing to a false federal income tax return.

At the earlier plea hearing, the prosecutor told the Court that had the case proceeded to trial the Government's evidence would have proven that FURTADO owned five Dunkin' Donuts shops located in Saugus and Revere. From 1994 to 1997, FURTADO participated in a kickback and false invoicing scheme with West Lynn Creamery ("WLC") in which he was able to choose among inflated prices that he wanted to pay to WLC for cream and other dairy products. WLC then "rebated" the difference between the inflated invoice price and the real price of goods back to FURTADO through rebate checks made payable to his franchises. FURTADO diverted more than $284,000 in rebate monies, converted them to personal use, and failed to report the monies as income to the IRS.

The case was investigated by Special Agents of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Freniere in Sullivan's Economic Crimes Unit.

Press Contact: Samantha Martin, (617) 748-3139