Yesterday, a Gilford, N.H., man, formerly of Canton, Mass., faced charges of filing false tax returns, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Remigijus Mikelenas, 55, the ex-proprietor of a café and a juice bar in Canton, is accused of not reporting over $3.5 million in gross receipts, skirting more than $860,000 in federal income taxes.
The indictment points to a period between 2012 and 2020 when Mikelenas purportedly concealed earnings from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Following his arrest, he was granted release on conditions after an initial appearance in federal court in Boston. An undercover agent, posing as an interested buyer for Mikelenas's establishments, reportedly obtained a confession during their talks. “If I get caught, I’ll be screwed,” Mikelenas allegedly proclaimed, alluding to his financial discrepancies, as reported by U.S. Attorney's Office.
Such a charge carries a sentence, which can reach up to three years in federal prison, along with up to a year of supervised release and as well as a fine of $250,000. The sentence will be decided by a federal district court judge grounded on applicable guidelines and statutes. Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Harry Chavis, Jr., the Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigations in Boston, disclosed the charges.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin A. Saltzman from the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is assigned to prosecute this case. However, the justice system maintains that the information in the charging documents remains in the territory of allegations. Mikelenas has the legal presumption of innocence until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
