Salem Restaurant Owner Gets Jail Time In Federal Tax Case

SALEM, MA -- The owner of King's Roast Beef in Salem was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison Monday after his July guilty plea to federal tax evasion charges. John Kalantzis, 52, of Lynn, was also ordered to serve one year of supervised release and ordered to pay a fine of $25,000. He has already paid $383,238 to the Internal Revenue Service after admitting to failing to pay taxes on $1.5 million in revenue.

Kalantzis was accused of failing to pay $383,000 in federal income taxes between 2011 and 2015. Federal prosecutors said Kalantzis under-reported revenue at King's by diverting some of the restaurant's cash receipts to himself, paying for some of the restaurant supplies with cash, and paying a portion of his employee's wages in cash.

According to a news release, during each of the five years Kalantzis failed to report cash receipts of approximately $275,000 and cash expenses of approximately $115,000 on King's Roast Beef's tax returns. for a total of $855,000 in unreported income. He faces up to three years in prison, a year of supervised release and up to $250,000 in fines when he is sentenced.

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Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).