Tax Evasion

"WATCH US do it fresh," is how the owners of the local restaurant chain Nifty Fifty's pitch customers on the chain's website. A bit too fresh for Uncle Sam, apparently. The U.S. attorney in Philadelphia have charged two owners and three managers of the chain — which includes five locations in southeastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey — with tax evasion for allegedly masterminding a long-running scheme to evade millions of dollars in personal and employment taxes. Those charged Wednesday include: Robert Mattei, 73, of Delray Beach, Fla.; Leo McGlynn, 52, of Swarthmore; Joseph Donnelly, 49, and Brian Welsh, 48, both of Springfield, Delaware County; and Elena Ruiz, 46, of Drexel Hill.

With five locations, in Northeast Philadelphia, Ridley Township, Bensalem, Clementon and Turnersville, Nifty Fifty's restaurants are nostalgia-themed throwbacks to the glory days of sock hops and drugstore-fountain milkshakes. "Not just another restaurant," the company touts on its website, "but a way of life. " Federal prosecutors, in a criminal case filed Wednesday, say that way of life included a long-running scheme by the company's owners and top managers to evade more than $2.2 million in federal employment and personal income taxes by skimming mountains of cash from the 26-year-old chain.

Chet Forte, who won Emmy awards as the force behind Monday Night Football and lost millions as a compulsive gambler, had to bite back tears yesterday as he pleaded with a federal judge for a break. "Judge, I apologize for not looking directly at you, but frankly, you look exactly like my Dad. I know my Dad would have given me another chance," Forte said. "And I hope you do. " Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez, sitting in Camden, was indeed understanding. He sentenced Forte to five years' probation for fraud and tax evasion.

A jury has acquitted Indy race car driver Helio Castroneves of tax evasion but remained hung on a count of conspiracy. Jurors deliberated for 6 days before reaching their verdict yesterday in Miami. Castroneves has twice won the Indianapolis 500, and was also champ of TV's "Dancing With The Stars" in 2007. His sister and business manager, Katiucia Castroneves, also was acquitted on the tax-evasion counts and the jury also remained hung on the conspiracy count. His Michigan lawyer, Alan Miller, was acquitted on the conspiracy count and three counts of tax evasion.

Hall of Fame slugger Willie McCovey yesterday was sentenced to two years' probation and fined $5,000 for evading taxes. "It's one of those things that was overlooked at the time and I do accept responsibility for it," the 57-year-old McCovey a told U.S. District judge in Brooklyn, N.Y. He entered the courtroom with the help of a cane, still recovering from an 11-hour back operation last fall. He previously had pleaded guilty to a single count of tax evasion. McCovey admitted he failed to declare $41,800 in income in 1989, when he made $87,000, and $69,800 in baseball memorabilia income received between 1988 and 1990.

A well-known Allentown lawyer was sentenced to 61/2 years in prison Thursday for evading $1.5 million in taxes and steering a $500,000 tax-free donation back to himself. John Karoly, 60, became well-known in the Lehigh Valley after winning more than $10 million for clients in police-abuse lawsuits. Character witnesses testified on his behalf, but the federal judge who convicted him of fraud and money laundering in a bench trial last year on the charity scheme said Karoly "seems to have an honesty problem.

Nino V. Tinari, one of the city's busiest and most flamboyant criminal- defense attorneys, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court yesterday to two counts of tax evasion on unreported income that prosecutors say totaled more than $1.1 million over five years. The money, according to Tinari, went toward support of two families - his wife and their children, and his former legal secretary and her three children. Dressed in the well-tailored gray, pinstriped suit that has been his trademark during a decade of representing accused criminals in high-profile cases, Tinari stood before U.S. District Judge William H. Yohn Jr. accused of evading $441,000 in taxes on $1.1 million in legal fees never reported as income.

A Montgomery County man - one of 14 alleged "high-income tax evaders" targeted publicly by federal officials in March - was sentenced by a federal judge yesterday to 15 months' imprisonment and a $30,000 fine. U.S. District Judge Louis H. Pollak told Stephen Gajdos that a prison term was especially fitting in tax-evasion cases and reminded Gajdos that "the government is not the enemy. We are the government. " Gajdos, 59, of the 2100 block of Grace Lane, Flourtown, was convicted by a federal court jury in June of two counts of tax evasion and one count of filing a false return in connection with his federal tax returns for 1982 and 1983.

A lawyer who formerly worked at the Philadelphia Housing Authority was charged yesterday with income-tax evasion and stealing a $15,000 lawsuit settlement from a private client. Marlene Joseph, 52, of the 1200 block of Norwalk Road in Philadelphia, was charged with one count of mail fraud and two counts of tax evasion for 1987 and 1988. The charges identified Joseph as the minority-business-enterprise and equal-employment-opportunity officer at the housing authority, but Assistant U.S. Attorneys Barry Gross and William B. Carr Jr. said the charges were not based on her activities as a PHA employee.

John J. Maloney, the engineer who oversaw construction of the Montgomery County Prison, was convicted yesterday on federal tax-evasion charges. The U.S. District Court jury deliberated about seven hours over two days before convicting Maloney, 55, of Perkiomenville, of conspiracy and two counts of filing a false tax return for income not reported in Maloney's 1986 and amended 1986 returns. The jury acquitted Maloney of one count of filing a false return involving his 1984 taxes.

With five locations, in Northeast Philadelphia, Ridley Township, Bensalem, Clementon and Turnersville, Nifty Fifty's restaurants are nostalgia-themed throwbacks to the glory days of sock hops and drugstore-fountain milkshakes. "Not just another restaurant," the company touts on its website, "but a way of life. " Federal prosecutors, in a criminal case filed Wednesday, say that way of life included a long-running scheme by the company's owners and top managers to evade more than $2.2 million in federal employment and personal income taxes by skimming mountains of cash from the 26-year-old chain.

"WATCH US do it fresh," is how the owners of the local restaurant chain Nifty Fifty's pitch customers on the chain's website. A bit too fresh for Uncle Sam, apparently. The U.S. attorney in Philadelphia have charged two owners and three managers of the chain — which includes five locations in southeastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey — with tax evasion for allegedly masterminding a long-running scheme to evade millions of dollars in personal and employment taxes. Those charged Wednesday include: Robert Mattei, 73, of Delray Beach, Fla.; Leo McGlynn, 52, of Swarthmore; Joseph Donnelly, 49, and Brian Welsh, 48, both of Springfield, Delaware County; and Elena Ruiz, 46, of Drexel Hill.

Two Bucks County business executives were sentenced and fined Thursday in U.S. District Court in Syracuse, N.Y., for tax evasion and the unlawful employment of illegal aliens, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Friday. John Cimino, 56, of Doylestown, and Anthony Cimino, 58, of Buckingham Township, were sentenced to six months home confinement and three years of supervised release for employing undocumented workers at LTCI Ltd., a Philadelphia construction company specializing in the refurbishment of movie theaters.

Joseph Rivera, 56, of Winslow, had full-time work ensuring that temp firms complied with state wage and tax laws. But it was his sideline that made it possible for him to afford two Shore homes, real estate in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a luxury car, and several bars of gold. Federal prosecutors said Rivera accepted $1.86 million in bribes from at least 20 owners and operators of temporary labor firms in return for his official help. Rivera pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal district court in Camden to solicitation and acceptance of a bribe and tax evasion.

Judges: Ex-leader took payments DUBLIN, Ireland - Former Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern received at least $276,000 in secret payments while in office and repeatedly lied about it under oath, a mammoth fact-finding judicial investigation ruled Thursday. The three judges led by Justice Alan Mahon stopped short of finding Ahern guilty of corruption, because they couldn't prove that Ahern gave favors to any of his cash donors when he was finance minister in the 1990s. The judges did find two other former lawmakers in Ahern's Fianna Fail party guilty of corruption for soliciting payments from property developers for personal use. They also found 11 past and present 11 members of local councils guilty of the same offense.

A 39-year-old Phoenixville man who once served as a Limerick Township supervisor was sentenced to four years in federal prison Wednesday in connection with a tax evasion scheme that included mail fraud. David F. Kane must also pay $1,209,879 in restitution to the IRS and complete three years of supervised release after his stint in jail, according to the sentencing agreement. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno came during a morning hearing in Philadelphia. "The 48-month sentence was well-deserved, and we are very satisfied," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul L. Gray.

David F. Kane, a former Limerick Township official, was sentenced today in federal court to four years in prison for what prosecutors call, "a massive tax evasion scheme. " Kane, 39, originally pleaded guilty on Dec. 12, 2011 for tax frauds from 2004 through 2007 while he was running for the Limerick Township Board of Supervisors, and during his time in that office. The charges are not related to wrongdoing in office. In all, a U.S. District Court sentencing memo submitted in Philadelphia today says Kane's total bilking of the government - when the crimes of his partners are included - amounts to about $1 million.

FRANKFURT, Germany - More than two years after it came clean about its addiction to debt, Greece may finally have begun its long and painful road to recovery. Greece's fractious political leaders struck a deal Thursday to make deep cuts in government jobs and spending to help save the country from a default that could shock the world financial system. The deal, under negotiation since July, is one of two critical steps Greece must take to receive the equivalent of a $170 billion bailout from other countries in Europe and around the globe.