The US attorney's office in Boston on Monday charged the owners of Nick's Famous Roast Beef in Beverly with failing to report as much as $6 million in income on their tax returns, avoiding $1 million in taxes.
Nicholas Koudanis, 65, of Topsfield, Nicholas Markos, 69, of Lynn and Eleni Koudanis, 60, were charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing the Internal Revenue Service and 10 counts of aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns. Steven Koudanis, 39, the son of Nicholas Koudanis, was charged with one count of endeavoring to obstruct the IRS.
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According to the indictment, the owners, who accept only cash payments at their restaurant, failed to report receipts of more than a million dollars each year from 2008 to 2013, which allegedly allowed them to evade nearly $1 million in taxes. The US attorney's office said the owners split us the cash receipts each week and determined how much to put in the bank and how much to report, and then destroyed the original receipts. The indictment said Nicholas Koudanis and his wife, Eleni, amassed more than $1.6 million in cash in a safe in their home as of December 2014.
The charge of conspiracy to defraude carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000; each tax charge carries a sentence of up to three years in prison and a fine of $250,000.