Pizza Restaurant Owner Sentenced For Not Paying Taxes

SCARSDALE, NY — A Connecticut man who owns pizza restaurants in New York and Connecticut will be going to prison for failing to pay federal taxes.

Bruno DiFabio, 51, of Ridgefield, Connecticut, pleaded guilty in 2018 to one count of conspiracy to file false income tax returns and payroll tax returns.

Leonard C. Boyle, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, said DiFabio was sentenced Thursday to 30 days of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release.

He was released on a $100,000 bond and is required to report to prison July 12.

According to court documents and statements, DiFabio has had various ownership interests in several pizza restaurants in Connecticut and New York, including Amore Pizza in Scarsdale and Pinocchio Pizza in Pound Ridge.

DiFabio and his business partner in some restaurants, Steven Cioffi, engaged in a practice where cash was taken from the cash register instead of being deposited into the restaurant's bank account.

The bookkeeper and accountant of the businesses used the bank records to determine the gross receipts. Authorities said when the cash was taken out of the register it would not be reported to the IRS.

DiFabio and Cioffi also knew that certain employees were paid in cash and others were paid either a portion or all of their wages "off the books." In doing so, they facilitated the manipulation of net income reported to the IRS and the underpayment of withholding taxes to the IRS.

Authorities said the loss to the IRS in income taxes and employment taxes for 2013 through 2015 was $816,954.

Boyle's office said DiFabio has paid about $125,000 in restitution to date and has agreed to provide additional assets, including interests in his home and businesses, to make full restitution.

On Sept. 24, 2018, Cioffi pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting in the filing of a false tax return. The loss to the IRS in income taxes and employment taxes for the 2013 through 2015 tax years attributable to Cioffi’s conduct in this scheme was $122,177.59. On April 27, he was sentenced to 30 days of imprisonment and was ordered to make full restitution.