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Nine Chicago area liquor store operators, including six Indian-Americans, were charged with alleged bootlegging and sales tax evasion to the tune of $3.5 million by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
Madigan announced Sept. 17 that five of those charged were arrested by Illinois Department of Revenue special agents with the assistance of Bridgeview and Palos Hills police on no-bond warrants Sept. 16 and the remaining defendants later surrendered to authorities.
If convicted, the defendants face between four to 15 years in prison.
According to the Illinois Liquor Control Commission, bootlegging charges have been filed against seven liquor store owners for allegedly importing alcohol illegally from Indiana. The arrest and charges were part of a sweep to crack down on sales tax evasion and interstate liquor bootlegging. “Operation Seven & Seven” is a joint effort with the Illinois Department of Revenue to investigate and prosecute untaxed or “bootlegged” liquor brought in from outside Illinois.
The Attorney general’s office said in a press note that from July 2010 to December 2013, the defendants collectively defrauded Illinois of $3.5 million in sales taxes. The investigators learned of the alleged bootlegging through a tip from an Illinois retailer.
The charges were filed against: Abdel Fattah Hammad, 41, Tinley Park, IL; Cherag Patel, 39, of South Bend, Indiana; Dipak Kumar Patel, 41, of Munster, Indiana; Jiggarkumar Patel, 37, of Schaumburg, IL; Mukesh Patel, and Vishal Patel, 31, of Des Plaines, IL; Nishant Patel, 33, of Des Plaines, IL; Rajanikant Patel, 44, of Hoffman Estates, IL and Yasir Kanan, 38, of Oak Lawn, IL.
The two -year investigation began in June 2013 after the liquor commission alerted the revenue investigators of the suspected bootlegging and investigators executed search warrants on the seven of the liquor stores.
Madigan charged the nine defendants in Cook County Circuit Court with sales tax evasion over $100,000, a Class 1 felony punishable by up to four to 15 years in prison. Seven of the nine operators were charged with sales tax evasion of more than $100,000 while Yasir Kanan and Dipakkumar Patel were charged with sales tax evasion of more than $10,000.
Court information was not immediately available for Hammad, Jiggarkumar Patel and Mukesh Patel. Kanan and Dipak Kumar Patel were, however, ordered held on $25,000 bonds, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office.
Bonds for Cherag Patel, Nishant Patel, Rajanikant Patel and Vishal Patel was set at $50,000 and their next appearance in court is set for Oct. 8.
“This should send a message that doing business in Illinois means following the state’s laws without exception,” Attorney General Lisa Madigan said in a press statement.
The post Nine Liquor Store Owners Arrested For Alleged Bootlegging appeared first on News India Times.
