Federal Government Indicts Owners of Omega Burgers, El Fuego and El Beso
MILWAUKEE — A 33-count indictment charging Paul Bouraxis and three members of his family with violating FEDERAL tax laws was handed down by a federal grand jury this week. The Bouraxis family owns the Omega Burger restaurant in Franklin, the El Fuego restaurant in Milwaukee and the El Beso restaurant in Greenfield.
The 65-year-old Paul Bouraxis, his wife, 60-year-old Freida Bouraxis, their son 38-year-old Andreas Bouraxis and their son-in-law 44-year-old Reiad “Ray” Awadallah — all of Franklin — were inducted for tax evasion by skimming of cash from the receipts of three restaurants they operated:
Omega Burger restaurant (S. 27th Street in Franklin)
El Fuego restaurant (W. Layton Avenue in Milwaukee)
El Beso restaurant (S. 74th Street, in Greenfield)
The indictment charges that the defendants paid restaurant employees in cash and failed to withhold or pay taxes on such wages.
Based on these charges and others, Paul Bouraxis faces up to 85 years in prison and fines of up to $3.75 million.
Freida Bouraxis faces up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Andreas Bouraxis faces up to 19 years in prison and fines of up to $4.75 million.
Reiad Awadallah faces up to 14 years in prison and fines of up to $1 million.
The indictment also seeks to forfeit more than $1.7 million in currency and gold and silver COINS and bars previously seized by federal agents.
In addition, FOX NEWS reports
that the federal government filed a plea agreement that had been reached with 45-year-old Scott Sherman, AN ACCOUNTANT residing in Sheboygan. “Under the terms of this plea agreement, Sherman will plead guilty to one count of filing a false federal income tax return. Sherman, who provided accounting and bookkeeping services to Paul Bouraxis and his businesses, failed to report all of the income he earned from his accounting practice during the years 2007-2011. As a result, Sherman underpaid his INCOME TAXES by more than $48,000.”
FOX NEWS reports that Sherman faces up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. In return for the plea agreement, Sherman will make full restitution to the IRS for the unpaid taxes, penalties and interest, which are presently estimated to be approximately $93,000. In addition, Sherman agreed to cooperate with the government in its investigation and prosecution of this and related matters, according to FOX NEWS.
SpecialAgents from the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated these cases and the prosecution of this cases will be handled by the Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Jacobs and Richard Frohling.
“This indictment should serve as a warning to those who choose to actively engage in illegal schemes to evade their income and PAYROLL tax obligations, “said Shea Jones, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s St. Paul Field Office. “Using cash in an attempt to conceal illegal activity will not deter IRS Criminal Investigation’s Special Agents from vigorously pursuing those who threaten the integrity of our nation’s tax system.”
The future of these restaurants is unknown at this time.
