Somerset County, N.J., Man Admits Tax Fraud; Failed To Report More Than $500,000 In Income

TRENTON N.J. – The owner of pizzeria in Manhattan admitted today to underreporting on his tax returns more than $500,000 in income that he kept for his personal benefit, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Amadeus Manata, of Warren, N.J., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with one count of subscribing to false personal federal income tax returns.

According to documents filed in this case and statements in court:

For the tax years 2005 through 2007, Manata filed U.S. individual income tax returns in which he claimed to report all of his income from his pizzeria, Pizza Pasta Etc., but which omitted $563,343 in cash he had diverted from the businesses for his personal use. Manata’s intentional failure to disclose true, correct and complete information to the IRS resulted in a tax loss to the United States of approximately $190,712.

As part of his guilty plea, Manata agreed to make full restitution to the IRS for all losses resulting from his filing of false tax returns.

The count of subscribing to false tax returns is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is currently scheduled for April 16, 2014.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Shantelle P. Kitchen, for the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lakshmi Srinivasan Herman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit.       

14-012                                          

Defense Counsel: Arthur Zucker Esq., Hackensack, N.J.

Manata, Amadeus Information