LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas restaurant owner has been sentenced to more than three years in prison after being found guilty of tax evasion.
On Thursday, the Justice Department announced that 64-year-old Raul Gil has been sentenced to 37 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and must pay $2,228,943.65 in restitution.
This all stems from Gil being found guilty of tax evasion after skimming $5 million in cash sales and filing false federal income tax returns from 2014 through 2018.
Court documents state the Casa Don Juan owner directed his bookkeeper to prepare false books and records for Gil's restaurant that underreported sales. He then provided the false records to his tax return preparer. According to the Internal Revenue Service, because the restaurant profits went through to Gil personally, his individual income tax returns for those years was also found to be false.
"Owners of restaurants that conduct a large number of cash transactions have to report all of their income, just like everyone else," Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg told Channel 13 in August. "We will investigate and prosecute those who shortchange their honest competitors and fellow citizens by willfully evading these laws."
In total, Gil caused a tax loss to the IRS of approximately $1.6 million, according to the Justice Department.
