A San Diego eatery bigwig is facing a smorgasbord of charges for allegedly cooking the books on tax and COVID-19 relief loans. Leronce Suel is accused of gorging on ill-gotten gains through a sophisticated scheme to defraud the government, court documents revealed.
According to a superseding indictment filed on Feb. 2, Suel, the top dog at Rockstar Dough LLC and Chicken Feed LLC, along with a business associate, are alleged to have underreported more than $1.7 million in gross receipts on their 2020 corporate tax return, as reported by the Justice Department. Dishing out these skewed numbers, they qualified for the Paycheck Protection Program and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund loans, federally backed lifelines for businesses battered by the pandemic.
Suel also allegedly certified that the money received was used purely for payroll on loan forgiveness applications. However, the indictment details how Suel and his partner made substantial cash withdrawals purportedly to launder the pilfered funds instead of seasoning their employees' pockets. Prosecutors claim the duo stashed away a treasure trove exceeding $2.4 million in cold hard cash at their pad.
Further adding to the hot water Suel's boiling in, he reportedly didn't pay taxes on personal income from his businesses, relishing in millions in cash and having his companies cover personal tabs like his house rent. His 2023 tax returns are similarly peppered with inaccuracies, including false claims of depreciable assets and business losses, as outlined by the Justice Department.
Should the scales of justice tip against him, Suel could be looking at sizeable time in the clink – up to 30 years for each wire fraud and conspiracy count, 10 for money laundering conspiracy, five for tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud Uncle Sam, and up to three for false tax returns filing, the Justice Department detailed. A federal judge will be dishing out the sentence after mulling over the guidelines and statutory spices.
The IRS Criminal Investigation unit is whisking the case together, with Trial Attorney Julia Rugg and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Beeler for the Southern District of California leading the prosecution lineup.
