Jury finds local restaurant owner found guilty of tax crimes

CINCINNATI - A federal jury has convicted a local fast-food chicken restaurant owner with tax crimes.

The verdict was announced today following a trial that began on Sept. 16 before U.S. District Judge Douglas R. Cole.

Richard Bhoolai, 65, of Cincinnati, owned and operated Richie's Fast Food Restaurants, Inc.

According to court documents and trial testimony, Bhoolai failed to pay over payroll taxes to the IRS during 2017 and 2018.

Bhoolai employed between 22 and 34 employees at the time. Bhoolai withheld federal taxes from employees' paychecks but failed to transmit the funds to the IRS. Instead, Bhoolai spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for his personal benefit, including using business proceeds to engage in more than $1 million of gambling activity.

Bhoolai was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2023 with eight counts of willful failure to pay over employment taxes, a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison.

Congress sets the maximum statutory sentence, and sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the Court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors at a future hearing.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; and Karen Wingerd, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Cincinnati Field Office; announced today's verdict. Assistant United States Attorney Ebunoluwa A. Taiwo and Trial Attorney Alexandra Fleszar from the Department of Justice's Tax Division are representing the United States in this case.

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