White Plains Business Owner, Businesses Plead Guilty To Stealing State Sales Tax

WHITE PLAINS, NY — Two White Plains business franchises and their owner pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in state sales taxes. Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino Jr. said FreshMex LLC and All American Burger LLC pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal tax fraud and third-degree grand larceny, both felonies. Additionally, Peter Spagnuolo, 50, of Cottage Place in White Plains, pleaded guilty to petit larceny, a misdemeanor.

In a joint investigation carried out by the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office and the New York State Tax Department, it was determined that the businesses and Spagnuolo committed the offenses between March 1, 2009, and Jan. 31, 2015. [Get Patch’s Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts here.]

Spagnuolo owned two restaurant franchises at the food court located at The Westchester Mall: the Desert Moon Café and Nathan’s. He was required to collect sales tax from customers on behalf of New York State and to remit both sales tax payments and file sales tax returns, Scarpino said.

The investigation revealed that the defendants failed to file sales tax returns for either business, and also failed to remit sales tax funds collected by each business to the New York State Tax Department.

The total amount of sales tax funds collected and not remitted during this period was approximately $380,000. For tax years 2014 and 2015, the defendants failed to pay $67,927.

Spagnuolo fully repaid the sales tax as well as personal income due and owing to the New York State Tax Department.

The defendant corporations were sentenced to a three-year conditional discharge, and Spagnuolo was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge.

Photo caption: Peter Spagnuolo. Photo credit: Westchester District Attorney's Office.