The owner of pizzeria restaurants in Delaware and the Philadelphia area faces federal tax fraud charges. Giuseppe “Pino” DiMeo, 49 and a resident of Eagleville, PA was indicted on two counts of conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and a dozen counts of filing false tax returns, according to Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Louis D. Lappen.
The indictment charges that from 2008 through 2012, DiMeo conspired with his business partners at restaurants in Wilmington and Philadelphia, to defraud the IRS of income taxes and payroll taxes.
DiMeo allegedly skimmed cash from four of his restaurants and failed to report the cash income to the IRS. DiMeo also paid many of his employees in cash under the table and failed to inform his accountant or the IRS about his businesses’ cash payroll.
In total, prosecutors alleged DiMeo had over $3 million in unreported gross receipts and failed to pay to the IRS approximately $1 million in income taxes and payroll taxes.
DiMeo has owned and operated numerous restaurants in the Philadelphia area, and presently owns DiMeo’s Pizzaiuoli Napulitani on Market Street in downtown Wilmington; Pizzeria DiMeo’s (Andorra) in Philadelphia; and Arde Osteria in Wayne, PA.
The defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 46 years of imprisonment, three years of supervised release, a $3.5 million fine, and a $1,400 special assessment.