Date: Aug. 14, 2024

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BOSTON - The former owner of two restaurants was charged yesterday in connection with filing false tax returns.

Remigijus Mikelenas, of Gilford, N.H., formerly of Canton, Mass. has been charged with three counts of filing false tax returns. Mikelenas was arrested yesterday and released on conditions following an initial appearance in federal court in Boston.

According to the charging documents, Mikelenas was the owner of a café and juice bar in Canton. It is alleged that between approximately 2012 through 2020, Mikelenas deliberately failed to report more than $3.5 million in gross receipts at his businesses to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). As a result, Mikelenas allegedly avoided paying more than $860,000 in federal income taxes.

During the investigation, Mikelenas allegedly told an undercover agent posing as a prospective buyer for the businesses, that he regularly underreported his gross receipts to the IRS and showed the agent a copy of the "real" books that reflected the businesses' true earnings. During the meeting, it is further alleged that Mikelenas asked the agent whether he worked for the IRS, and added, "If I get caught, I'll be screwed."

The charge of filing false tax returns provides for a sentence of up to three years in prison, up to one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS CI) in Boston made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin A. Saltzman of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.