Former Ocean City Pizzeria Half-Owner Admits To Tax Evasion: IRS

OCEAN CITY, NJ — The former half-owner of an Ocean City pizzeria pleaded guilty to tax evasion, officials said.

Guiseppe Cannuscio, 74, of Linwood, admitted to failing to pay the IRS approximately $208,448 in taxes after an investigation by IRS Criminal Investigation Newark Field Office Special Agents, IRS officials said.

Cannuscio pleaded guilty on July 13 to a charge of a single count of conspiracy to evade taxes, IRS officials said.

“Mr. Cannuscio intentionally filed fraudulent tax documents to conceal income. Today’s guilty plea is the result of hardworking IRS-CI Special Agents protecting the tax system to ensure everyone pays their fair share of taxes, including business owners,” said Tammy Tomlins, Acting Special Agent in Charge IRS Criminal Investigation Newark Field Office. “IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agents and our law enforcement partners will continue to investigate, prosecute, and protect the integrity of the United States tax code.”

Between Oct. 2013 and Sept. 2018, Cannuscio was a 50 percent owner and operator of Mario's Pizza in Ocean City, along with his brother Ernesto, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion in June. Read More: Former Ocean City Pizzeria Owner Admits To Tax Evasion: IRS

Mario's Pizza accepted cash and credit card payments, but Cannuscio failed to deposit "significant amounts" of the cash receipts into the Mario’s Pizza’s corporate bank account, IRS officials said.

Cannuscio used a portion of the cash receipts to pay employees off the books, IRS officials said. He gave the business's accountant the business bank account statements, knowing they did not contain the unreported cash receipts, IRS officials said. He did not tell the accountant about the cash receipts or the cash payroll to employees, IRS officials said.

This caused the accountant to underreport the gross receipts on the corporate tax returns as well as properly reporting the business income on his personal tax returns, IRS officials said. Also, IRS officials said that Cannuscio evaded employment taxes by not informing the accountant about the cash wages paid to employees.

As a result, Cannuscio admitted he and his brother Ernesto failed to pay approximately $208,448 in personal, corporate and payroll taxes due and owing to the IRS for 2015 through 2018, officials said.

Cannuscio's guilty plea carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and total potential fine of $250,000.

The investigation was conducted by Special Agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Tammy Tomlins and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, under the direction of U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.