Boston-Area Restaurant Owner Sentenced for Tax Fraud

BOSTON – A former owner of restaurants in Boston and Chelsea was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for tax fraud convictions.

Burhan Ud Din, 50, of Watertown, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. to three years of probation, 500 hours of community service and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $140,372 in back taxes. In August 2019, Din was convicted by a federal jury of six counts of willful failure to collect and pay over tax.

From 2009 to 2013, Din defrauded the government and avoided paying payroll taxes owed by fried chicken restaurants located in Chelsea, downtown Boston and Jamaica Plain.

Federal law requires employers to withhold payroll taxes and pay the IRS. To avoid paying taxes, repeatedly, Din falsely reported to the IRS the number of employees and wages paid. Din provided the tax preparer for the stores with false information about the restaurants’ payroll, causing the tax preparer to file false tax returns.

United States Andrew E. Lelling; Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; Jason Molina, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Boston Police Commissioner William Gross made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott L. Garland of Lelling’s Criminal Division prosecuted the case.