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March 20, 2018

Old Saybrook restaurant owner gets prison for tax evasion

By Natalie Missakian

The owner of an Old Saybrook pizza restaurant will spend three months in prison for failing to pay taxes on more than $765,000 he took in at his Boston Post Road eatery, authorities said.

Robert Kehayias, 58, of Old Saybrook, owner of Pizza Works (also known as Pizza Junction LLC) at 455 Boston Post Road, pleaded guilty in September to one count of filing a false tax return, the Connecticut U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Between 2010 and 2014, prosecutors said Kehayias deposited much of the cash generated by the restaurant into his personal money market account and other personal bank accounts and put only a small amount into the business bank account.

He then understated the business’ gross receipts to his tax preparer, resulting in his failure to pay around $343,000 in federal taxes on $765,733 of unreported taxable income, authorities said.

U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven sentenced Kehayias last week to three months in prison followed by a year of supervised release.

Kehayias has paid all his back taxes but still owes the IRS $361,000 in penalties and interest, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Arterton ordered him to pay $200,000 within two weeks, the office said.

Natalie Missakian can be reached at news@newhavenbiz.com

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