Accountant pleads guilty to NY, CT pizza restaurants’ tax fraud

A New York accountant has pleaded guilty to a federal tax fraud charge related to the operation of a chain of Westchester and Fairfield county pizza restaurants.

James G. Guerra of Dix Hills, Long Island, worked as an accountant for Bruno DiFabio, the owner of several pizza restaurants including Pinocchio Pizza LLC, doing business as Pinocchio Pizza in New Canaan; Top Oven Restaurant Corp., dba Pinocchio Pizza in Wilton; DiFabio Brothers Pizza Corp., dba Amore Pizza in Scarsdale; Odell Pizza Inc., dba Amore Cucina and Bar in Stamford; Nepperhan Restaurants Group Inc., dba ReNapoli Pizza in Old Greenwich; and Homefield Restaurant Corp., dba Pinocchio Pizza in Pound Ridge.

According to the federal indictment brought against Guerra, DiFabio and his businesses routinely removed cash from the restaurants”™ registers and failed to deposit the funds into the restaurants”™ operating bank accounts. Guerra was accused of knowing that DiFabio often paid his employees in cash and did not collect required withholding taxes from his employees. Guerra reviewed and approved DiFabio”™s quarterly tax returns, despite knowing the withholding taxes were intentionally omitted.

DiFabio pleaded guilty in October 2018 to one count of conspiracy to file false income tax returns and payroll tax returns. When he pleaded guilty, he agreed that the loss to the IRS in income taxes and employment taxes for the 2013 through 2015 tax years was $816,954. 

One month earlier, his business partner Steven Cioffi, pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting in the filing of a false tax return. In June 2019, Idalecia Lopes Santos, a bookkeeper who worked for DiFabio, pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion. All three are awaiting sentencing.

Guerra pleaded guilty to one count of willful failure to collect and pay withholding taxes, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years. A sentencing date has not been scheduled and Guerra was released pending sentencing.