The owners of Dippin’ Donuts stores in Rome and New Hartford and their adult son have been indicted on tax fraud charges.

67-year old John Zourdous, 63-year old Helen Zourdos and 37-year old Dimitrious Zourdous of Rome are facing 16 counts of conspiracy to defraud the IRS, tax evasion and aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says that between 2013 and 2017, the three allegedly concealed more than $1 million in cash sales from the IRS by depositing cash directly into their personal bank accounts instead of their business bank accounts.

Authorities say they then provided incomplete information to their accountant, causing the accountant to file false individual and corporate tax returns with the IRS

The indictment also alleges the defendants committed employment tax fraud by paying employees some of their wages “off the books’ in cash.

If convicted, the three face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge and each count of tax evasion, and three years in prison for each false return charge.

 

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