Lawyers and former owners of mulligan’s bar and restaurant plead guilty to tax evasion conspiracy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
April 26, 2012 |
TRENTON, N.J. – Two law partners – former owners of Mulligan’s Bar and Restaurant in Farmingdale, N.J. – today admitted their respective roles in a conspiracy to evade taxes, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Donald Grasso, 65, of Brielle, N.J., and Dale Orlovsky, 66, of Toms River, N.J., law partners and former owners of Mulligan’s, each pleaded guilty to separate Informations charging them with conspiracy to evade taxes. The defendants entered their guilty pleas before U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano in Trenton federal court.
According to the Information filed in this case and statements made in court:
Substantial amounts of the cash were removed from the cash receipts of Mulligan’s and not reported in sales reports that were used as the basis for reporting income for federal income tax purposes. Grasso and Orlovsky received some of the cash taken from Mulligan’s unreported cash receipts, which they intentionally failed to report as personal income on their Federal income tax returns. The two men also used some of the unreported cash receipts to pay some of the restaurant’s employees, with the understanding that the cash payments would not be reported as personal income on the employees’ federal income tax returns.
Grasso and Orlovsky then filed false federal tax forms for the calendar years 2003, 2004 and 2005 by failing to report $125,892 in cash payroll in 2003, $199,363 in 2004, and $192,987 in 2005. Grasso also filed false federal individual income tax returns for the same calendar years by failing to report $62,000 in gross income in 2003, $23,000 in 2004, and $4,000 in gross income in 2005. Orlovsky filed false federal individual income tax returns for the same calendar years by failing to report $58,000 in gross income in 2003, $23,000 in 2004, and $4,000 in gross income in 2005.
The conspiracy to evade income tax count to which Grasso and Orlovsky pleaded guilty is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the gross pecuniary gain by the defendant or loss by the victims. Sentencing for both defendants is scheduled for Aug. 30, 2012.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited Special Agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge JoAnn S. Zuniga with investigation leading to today’s guilty pleas.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Joseph Gribko of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Trenton.
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Defense counsel:
Grasso: Lawrence S. Horn Esq., Newark
Orlovsky: Robert C. Scrivo Esq., Morristown, N.J.
