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New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Commissioner Robert L. Megna announced today that the owner of a defunct Allegany County restaurant has been arrested on felony tax charges.
Ruben Santiago, of 18 W. Main Street, Cuba, N.Y., the former owner of the Cuba Main Street Bistro, which closed in January, was arrested Tuesday and appeared before Town of Cuba Justice James M. Keough on felony sales tax charges.
Santiago is accused of stealing approximately $46,000.00 in state and local sales taxes collected from his customers but never paid over to the State. It is alleged that to commit this larceny, Santiago failed to report more than $540,000.00 in the bistro's taxable sales from March 1, 2005 to February 29, 2008.
The underreporting of sales was revealed when Tax Department personnel examined bank accounts of the business that showed deposits of receipts and taxes that were never reported.
In addition to the larceny charge, Santiago faces multiple felony and misdemeanor charges for filing false sales tax returns which underreported his taxable sales in 2005, and nine misdemeanor counts for failing to file any tax returns for sales made in the period from December 1, 2005 to February 29, 2008. The top charge filed against Santiago of Grand Larceny in the 3rd Degree is a class D felony punishable by up to seven years in prison.
Judge Keough set bail at $1,000 and directed Santiago's appearance with counsel on July 15, 2008 for arraignment.
Commissioner Megna said "In the past year, the Department has significantly increased its commitment to combating tax fraud as part of our effort to close the tax gap. Our newly formed Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is working across the state with local district attorneys to expose and prosecute those who engage in tax fraud. SIU is paying particular attention to cash businesses who fail to pay their fair share of sales tax. Sales tax theft of the kind alleged in today's complaint not only deprives state and local governments of needed tax revenue, it also defrauds all the customers who paid the sales tax."
The case was investigated by Investigator Jody White and Field Audit Specialist Eileen Ryerse of the Rochester office of the SIU under the supervision of the Rochester SIU's Director, Associate Attorney Vincent Scarsella.
Commissioner Megna thanked the Town of Cuba Police Department for its assistance in processing the arrest and Allegany County District Attorney Terrence M. Parker for his prosecution of this case.
All of the defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Last Modified: June 26, 2008
