Manco and Manco Owners Admit to Tax Evasion, Lying to IRS: U.S. Attorney

The owners of Manco and Manco Pizza admitted to evading taxes, structuring cash payments to avoid reporting requirements and lying to IRS special agents, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced on Thursday.

Charles Bangle, 55, of Somers Point, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to a count of evading taxes with respect to his 2010 personal tax returns and a count of structuring financial transactions in 2011 to avoid reporting requirements.

His wife, 54-year-old Mary Bangle, pleaded guilty to a count of knowingly making materially false statements to IRS special agents.

“Today, Chuck and Mary Bangle, by their respective guilty pleas, accepted responsibility in their ongoing dispute with the government, and specifically the IRS,” he attorneys for Charles Bangle (Vincent P. Sarubbi Esq.) and Mary Bangle (Rocco C. Cipparone, Jr. Esq.) said in a joint statement Thursday afternoon. “By resolving this stressful matter in this way, Chuck and Mary now can put this behind them, and will continue leading the positive, productive and community-minded lives they always have led.”

They were originally indicted on 30 counts of tax evasion, 27 of which were dismissed. Four of those counts were for tax evasion, and 23 were for alleging false statements and structuring bank deposits.

Sarubbis said that Charles’ agreement with the government, “while setting forth the government’s worst-case scenario position on certain disputed issues for sentencing such as the amount of tax allegedly evaded and the source and pattern of bank deposits, leaves open those issues for defendant Charles Bangle to challenge those positions at sentencing.”

He also claimed that after reviewing the government’s evidence in the case since the time of the indictment, “certain factual and legal aspects of the government’s claims still remain in dispute, and will be resolved at the sentencing phase of this process. The appropriate forum to resolve those disputes is at the sentencing phase of this matter rather than at a protracted trial.”

Between 2007 and 2011, the Bangles admitted they skimmed large sums of cash from the popular pizzeria on the Ocean City Boardwalk.

Charles Bangle admitted to substantially underreporting his income on his 2010 U.S. individual income tax return, specifically, failing to report additional taxable income that he deposited in cash into his bank account during that year.

By only reporting $127,955 in 2010 and omitting an additional $263,113 in taxable income, Charles Bangle avoided $91,577 in taxes.

Charles Bangle deposited significant amounts of that cash into their personal bank account at TD Bank in amounts less than $10,000 in order to avoid triggering a Currency Transaction Report from financial institutions to the U.S. Department of Treasury.

Mary Bangle admitted that she lied to IRS special agents who asked her about her personal bank account on May 30, 2012. She claimed that when cash receipts came into the business, she only retained enough to pay that week’s payroll and some bills, when in fact she retained cash receipts for her personal use.

She also lied to agents about the amount of cash deposited into her personal bank account, which was substantially more that the net pay listed on her W-2 forms issued by Manco and Manco Pizza.

“Mary acknowledged that when approached by IRS agents for an interview in 2012, she made false statements to the agents,” Cipparone said. “While Mary’s false statements of course – as she acknowledged – constitute a crime, she made them during an unannounced early morning visit to her home by two IRS agents, which would be a stressful and disconcerting experience for anyone.”

Charles Bangle faces a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss arising out of the offense on the count of tax evasion. He faces a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the gain or loss from the offense.

Mary Bangle faces a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss from the offense.

“We are pleased that we were able to work out an agreement that provides that at sentencing the government will dismiss all counts of conspiracy and income tax evasion against Mary, and in which the government has agreed that the appropriate sentence for Mary is one of probation,” Cipparone said. “While the Court retains discretion to sentence Mary to a sentence of incarceration, the advisory sentencing guidelines for her offense call for probation and we are optimistic and hopeful that the Court will impose such a sentence.”

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 8.

The Bangles were employees of Mack andManco Pizza until they purchased a controlling interest in 2011, and renamed it Manco and Manco. Charles Bangle handled the day-to-day operations of the business and Mary Bangle was responsible for handling cash and payroll.

Manco and Manco has two pizzerias on the Boardwalk and one in Somers Point.

The attached image is an Ocean City Patch file photo