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topicnews · October 24, 2024

Roanoke officials respond to food tax criminal complaints

Roanoke officials respond to food tax criminal complaints

As the owners of several Roanoke restaurants face criminal charges over late meal tax payments, the city treasurer and commissioner of finance is assuring residents that the offices have “worked together to ensure the businesses are in compliance with the law.”

The two elected officials distributed a press release about the situation on Wednesday.

A downtown bakery, food truck and restaurant are among the latest businesses to be accused of either embezzlement or failing to properly collect and remit local taxes to the city, according to court documents. The Roanoke Rambler, a local online news publication, first reported the criminal charges on Wednesday.

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“Each month, businesses that collect prepared food and beverage taxes must file reports with the Commissioner of the Revenue and pay the Treasurer the amount collected for prepared food and beverage taxes for the previous month,” the release said . “Collecting taxes from taxpayers and misdirecting those funds to the city constitutes embezzlement, a felony under the Code of Virginia.”

Shaneice Lashae Jones owns Sweets by Shaneice, a bakery in the 500 block of Campbell Avenue Southwest. She was indicted Oct. 1 by a Roanoke District Court grand jury on four counts of failing to “collect, truthfully account and pay” taxes to the city on prepared food and beverages. According to the indictments, their crimes occurred on March 20, April 20, May 20 and June 20.

Jonathon Clayton Booker, owner of food truck and catering company Food on the Go, was also charged on Oct. 1. He is charged with five counts of failing to file, bill and pay food and beverage taxes on Dec. 20. Feb. 20, Feb. 20, March 20 and April 20, according to his charges.

Miguel Angel Liendo and Niovis Elizabeth Mazo were also each charged with embezzlement on Oct. 1. They were each charged with using, disposing of, concealing or embezzling taxes on prepared food and beverages of $1,000 or more in the course of conducting business at Leonore Restaurant, an Italian and Venezuelan lunch and dinner establishment located in the Campbell Avenue Southwest closed last spring. According to court documents, her crimes occurred between Dec. 1 and June 30.

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But about a week after the charges were filed, Judge Christopher Clemens granted a request from Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Joshua Dietz to dismiss the charges against Liendo and Mazo. According to court documents, on Oct. 7, the defendants made a payment of approximately $10,000 to the city treasurer.

“After consultation with the Treasurer of the City of Roanoke and the Commissioner of Finance for the City of Roanoke, the Commonwealth now requests that the Court enter a nolle prosequi order on this charge,” the motions in Liendo and Mazo’s case files state.

Dietz confirmed Wednesday afternoon that he is also handling Jones and Booker’s cases.

“I’m not even sure they were served,” he said. “Once served, they will set a date for arraignment, be informed of their rights to counsel, and then set a date for trial.”

“Before taking legal action, we always first attempt to contact businesses ourselves by phone, email or through a site visit if they do not file documentation,” Commissioner Ryan LaFountain said in Wednesday’s news release, “because we “Understanding that running a business is important.” Just like running a restaurant can be a complex endeavor, and we want businesses to thrive in a legitimate way in Roanoke.”

But if “businesses continue to fail to file and remit collected taxes, cases will be referred to the Commonwealth’s Attorney for prosecution,” the release continued.

“Taxpayers pay Roanoke’s prepared food and beverage tax on nearly every meal they have at a restaurant,” Treasurer Tasha Burkett said in the release, “and they rightly expect that the taxes they pay go where they are.” they should go.”

“That’s why it’s a problem,” Dietz said. “Because it’s not a situation where the restaurant owner doesn’t pay their taxes. It’s a situation where restaurant owners don’t pay the taxes paid to them by a consumer to the city.”

Dietz couldn’t comment on whether the accused business owners were negligent or intentionally kept the money, but said, “That shouldn’t happen because it’s money that should never be part of their operating budget.”

A Roanoke County business owner was also recently indicted for failing to collect local taxes. Katheryn “Kat” Pascal, co-owner of FarmBurguesa, a burger joint in Vinton, was arrested Oct. 15 and charged with 11 counts of failure to collect money and one count of embezzlement, according to online court records. The alleged crimes occurred between November 2023 and September 2024.







Pascal


Roanoke County-Salem Jail


According to court records, Pascal was arraigned Oct. 16 in Roanoke County General District Court. She was released from jail the same day, a deputy with the Roanoke County-Salem Jail Registry confirmed in an email Wednesday. Her next hearing is scheduled for January 16.

FarmBurgeusa previously had a second location in Grandin Village in Roanoke, but it closed earlier this year.

Emma Coleman (540) 981-3198

emma.coleman@roanoke.com

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