Crime
The former café and juice bar owner avoided paying more than $820,000 in federal income taxes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says.
A former Canton café and juice bar owner was sentenced Wednesday in Boston federal court after deliberately failing to report more than $3.5 million in gross receipts to the Internal Revenue Service over an eight-year period, according to a statement from Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley’s office.
Remigijus Mikelenas, 55, now of Gilford, New Hampshire, avoided paying more than $820,000 in federal income taxes by filing the false tax returns, the statement says.
He was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, followed by one year of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay more than $800,000 in restitution to the IRS and more than $100,000 in restitution to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, according to the statement.
During the investigation, authorities used an undercover agent posing as a prospective buyer for the two businesses, officials said.
“Mikelenas 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,” the statement reads. “During the meeting, Mikelenas asked the agent whether he worked for the IRS, and added, ‘If I get caught, I’ll be screwed.’”
In August 2024, Mikelenas was arrested and charged with three counts of filing false tax returns.
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