Twin Cities Restaurant Owner Charged With Tax Fraud

ST. LOUIS PARK, MN — Restaurant owner Thomas Pham has been charged with 38 counts of filing false tax returns, Minnesota Department of Revenue Commissioner Cynthia Bauerly announced Wednesday. Pham, 44, of Plymouth, was charged by summons and his first court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 13.

While Pham owned the now-closed Wondrous Azian Kitchen in downtown Minneapolis, the criminal case only involves the sales and use taxes from his Thai food restaurant, Thanh Do in St. Louis Park.

According to the complaint, Pham and his Thanh Do, Inc. business under-reported monthly taxable sales by $118,138 from November 2013 through December 2016.

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Pham was well-known in the Department of Revenue because of a history of not filing tax returns, audit issues and evading collection when this investigation began in July 2016, the complaint states.

In July 2017, Department of Revenue agents executed several search warrants at Pham’s rented home in Plymouth, and recovered several bins of restaurant records, authorities said.

By creating a spread sheet and comparing daily reconciliations for Thanh Do restaurant with the monthly taxes collected, the auditors were able to determine how much Pham was underreporting, according to investigators.

The total loss to the state of Minnesota, including penalties and interest is $130,858.98, the complaint states.

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