Lacey Restaurant Owner Pleads Guilty To Hiding $900K In Income

LACEY, NJ — A Lacey restaurant owner pleaded guilty to hiding nearly $900,000 in taxable income, the Internal Revenue Services said Thursday. Raimondo Schiano filed false tax returns for Biagio's Trattoria, according to authorities.

Schiano admitted to diverting revenue from Biago's sales to his personal bank account for tax years 2014-18, according to Michael Montanez, special agent in charge at the U.S. Treasury.

“None of the diverted funds were reported as income on either the corporate tax returns for Biago’s or the personal tax returns for Schiano,” Montanez said.

Schiano failed to report $459,388 of income on his corporate tax returns and $404,654 on his personal tax returns, according to the IRS. The Forked River man pleaded guilty to one count of filing false personal and corporate tax returns from 2014-18.

He faces up to three years in prison and $250,000 in fines. His sentencing is set for Nov. 24.

Click here to get Patch email notifications on this or other local news articles or get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our app. Download here. Follow Lacey Patch on Facebook. Have a news tip? Email josh.bakan@patch.com.