Owners of popular Jersey shore pizzeria admit evading taxes
Jul 2, 2015, 12:54 PM
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — The owners of a popular Jersey shore pizza restaurant chain pleaded guilty Thursday to evading taxes and lying to the IRS.
Manco & Manco Pizza owner Charles Bangle, 55, pleaded guilty in federal court in Camden to evading taxes on his 2010 tax returns and structuring financial transactions in 2011 to avoid reporting requirements.
His 54-year-old wife, Mary, pleaded guilty to knowingly making materially false statements to the IRS in 2012.
Charles Bangle faces up to five years in prison on the tax evasion count and up to 10 years on the structuring count. Mary Bangle faces up to five years. Both also face potential fines. They are scheduled to be sentenced in early October.
Manco & Manco Pizza is located in Ocean City and has three pizzerias on the boardwalk and one in nearby Somers Point. The Bangles were employees of Mack & Manco Pizza until they purchased it in 2011. The name was changed in 2012 when the Mackrone family left the business. Charles Bangle ran the business while Mary Bangle handled payroll and cash, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
The Bangles were arrested last year and charged in a 30-count indictment with failing to report nearly $1 million in income over a five-year period. Charles Bangle also was charged with moving $340,000 from business accounts to a personal account in increments of less than $10,000 to avoid bank reporting requirements.
In Thursday’s guilty plea, Charles Bangle admitted failing to report more than $260,000 in income in 2010 and avoiding paying more than $91,000 in taxes. He also admitted making cash deposits in amounts less than $10,000 to his TD Bank account in February 2011.
Mary Bangle admitted lying to IRS agents about how much cash she deposited into her personal bank account.
Attorneys for the couple said both had accepted responsibility for their actions. Vincent Sarubbi, an attorney representing Charles Bangle, said in an email that his client will dispute some of the government’s factual contentions about the alleged conspiracy at the October sentencing hearing.
Mary Bangle’s attorney, Rocco Cipparone, said in an email that federal sentencing guidelines recommend that she receive a sentence of probation.
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