Crime & Safety

Syosset Resident Pleads Guilty to Sales Tax Fraud

A Papa John's franchise owner living in Syosset has pleaded guilty to sales tax fraud, agreeing to pay $500,000 in restitutions, authorities said.

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance said Syed Mehboob, 45, of 11 Andover Drive in Syosset, was connected to six Queens Papa John’s pizza franchises in Astoria, Corona, Woodside, Bayside, and Sunnyside. Arrested in August 2013, he was charged with the theft of several hundred thousand dollars in sales tax for the years 2005 through 2010.

Mehboob pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge and received a conditional discharge at his sentencing, according to officials. The six franchises he’s involved with, seen in this case as six separate defendants, also pled guilty and were fined at sentencing on April 29, according to officials. The defendants admitted that they stole $226,017 in sales tax – but with interest, penalty and fines were ordered to a make full restitution to the State of $497,021.

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The case was investigated by the Tax Department’s Criminal Investigations Division and prosecuted by the office of Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.

 “This is a perfect example of a merchant flagrantly stealing the public’s money – the type of fraud that cheats honest business owners who play by the rules,” Department of Taxation and Finance Commissioner Thomas H. Mattox said, in a press release.

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“The sentences should send a clear message that criminal activity that cheats the government and the public out of much needed revenue will not be tolerated,” Brown said.  “New York State depends on the collection of taxes to operate its government.”


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