Danbury restaurant owner pleads guilty to tax evasion

A Danbury restaurant owner recently pleaded guilty to tax evasion in federal court, the U.S. attorney’s office in Connecticut announced this week.

Agostino Incorvaia, 47, owner of Augie’s #1 pizza restaurant on Germantown Road in Danbury, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut on Tuesday to one count of tax evasion. Between 2007 and 2012, Incorvaia failed to report approximately $2.65 million in gross receipts to the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

An investigation by the IRS revealed that Incorvaia understated the restaurant’s gross receipts on his income tax returns, knowingly provided false numbers to an accountant and had a large group of “off the books” employees.

A portion of the unreported receipts were used to fund business interests and properties, including some in the Dominican Republic, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

In his guilty plea, Incorvaia admitted to evading payment of income taxes for the 2007 through 2011 tax years. As part of his plea, Incorvaia will pay $396,650 in back taxes as well as interest and other penalties.

U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden scheduled sentencing for July 7. Incorvaia faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. The investigation was conducted by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Chen.