Nick's Roast Beef Co-Owner Sentenced For Tax Fraud

BOSTON – The co-owner of Nick’s Famous Roast Beef in Beverly was sentenced today in federal court to probation and restitution for failing to pay taxes on nearly $6 million in cash he skimmed from the business over a six-year period.

Nicholas Markos, 70, of Lynn, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris to one year of probation to be served in home confinement and ordered to pay $2,063,394 in restitution.

In January, Markos pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing the IRS in assessing and collecting taxes and 10 counts of aiding and assisting in the filing of false corporate and personal tax returns.

In April 2017, co-owner Nicholas Koudanis, his wife, Eleni Koudanis, and their son, Steven Koudanis, were sentenced for their role in the scheme.

The U.S. Attorney's Office explained that from 2008 to 2013, Markos and his business partner Nicholas Koudanis, skimmed more than $1 million in cash receipts each year from their business, which they failed to report on their corporate tax returns or personal tax returns.

As a result they avoided paying nearly $1 million each in personal income taxes during that period.

Each week, Markos and Koudanis personally divided the cash receipts, determining how much to deposit into the business’ bank account and report on their tax returns, how much to use to pay suppliers and employees, and how much to keep for themselves.

Eleni Koudanis was primarily responsible for the bookkeeping, and she provided some of the false income information to the tax preparer and recruited employees, including her son Steven Koudanis, to create false cash register receipts to be used, among other things, in connection with an IRS tax audit of the business.

The actual cash register receipts were not provided to the tax preparer who prepared the business and personal tax returns.

Co-owner Nicholas Koudanis, 67, of Topsfield, was sentenced to two years in prison, two years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution of $2,042,366 to the IRS.

He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing the IRS and 10 counts of aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns in January.

His wife, Eleni Koudanis, 61, was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay the same amount of restitution.

She pleaded guilty to five counts of aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns. The restitution amount consists of the approximately $992,821 in taxes the Koudanises avoided paying, plus interest and penalties.

Steven Koudanis, their 40-year-old son, was sentenced to one year of probation to be served in home confinement and ordered to pay $151,240 to the IRS.

He pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing and impeding the administration of the IRS laws.