Co-Owner of Nick’s Roast Beef Sentenced for Skimming Nearly $6 Million in Cash

BOSTON - The co-owner of Nick’s Famous Roast Beef in Beverly was sentenced today in federal court in Boston in connection with skimming nearly $6 million in cash receipts from the business over a six-year period and not reporting that cash income on his business or personal tax returns. His wife and son were also sentenced today for their role in the scheme.

Nicholas Koudanis, 67, of Topsfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patti B. Saris to two years in prison, two years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,042,366 to the IRS. In January 2017, Koudanis pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing the IRS and 10 counts of aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns. His wife, Eleni Koudanis, 61, was sentenced by Judge Saris to one year of probation and ordered to pay the same amount of restitution. She previously pleaded guilty to five counts of aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns. The restitution amount consists of the approximately $992,821 in taxes the Koudanises avoided paying, plus interest and penalties. Their son, Steven Koudanis, 40, was sentenced to one year of probation to be served in home confinement and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $151,240 to the IRS. He pleaded guilty to one count of endeavoring to obstruct and impede the due administration of the Internal Revenue Laws.

From 2008 to 2013, the co-owners of Nick’s Roast Beef, Nicholas Koudanis and Nicholas Markos, skimmed more than $1 million in cash receipts each year, which they failed to report on either the corporate tax returns or their personal tax returns, thereby avoiding the payment of nearly $1 million each in personal income taxes during that same period. Each week, Koudanis and Markos personally divided the cash receipts, determining how much to deposit to the business’s bank account and report on their tax returns, how much to use to pay suppliers and employees, and how much to keep for themselves. Eleni Koudanis had primary responsibility for the bookkeeping functions of the restaurant and provided some of the false income information to the tax preparer. Their son, Steven Koudanis, created false cash register receipts that were used in connection with an IRS tax audit of the business. The actual cash register receipts were not provided to the tax preparer who prepared the business and personal tax returns. By December 2014, Nicholas and Eleni Koudanis amassed more than $1.6 million in cash, which they kept in a safe in their home.

In January 2017, Nicholas Markos pleaded guilty to the same charges as Nicholas Koudanis and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 9, 2017.

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Joel P. Garland, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Balthazard of Weinreb’s Economic Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.