Mystic Restaurant Owner Ordered To Pay Restitution For Tax Crimes: Fed

MYSTIC, CT — A Mystic restaurant owner has been ordered to pay restitution of more than $92,000 and a $5,500 fine for a federal tax offense, according to a statement from Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

In July, Yi Di Lin, 49, pleaded guilty to aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return.

According to prosecutors, Lin owns and operates Peking Tokyo, a restaurant in Mystic. Lin regularly paid several employees wholly or partially in cash.

In mid-2019, Lin began using a payroll processing company to issue payroll checks for certain employees, make appropriate tax withholdings, and file quarterly tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service, according to prosecutors.

Lin failed to inform the payroll company about the existence of the employees he only paid in cash and the amount of cash he paid to employees. As a result, the payroll company prepared and filed false reports for four quarters in 2019 and 2020, and appropriate payroll taxes were not sent to the IRS, according to prosecutors. The resulting loss to the IRS was $92,093.

Lin has paid $92,093 in restitution.