Rome, NY Donut Shop Owners Sentenced To Prison For Tax Evasion

A Rome couple and their son who operated three local donut shops were sentenced on Wednesday in Federal Court in Utica on tax evasion charges.

69-year-old John Zourdos, his wife 65-year-old Helen Zourdous and their son 39-year-old Dimitris Zourdous, were convicted in November of 2021 of conspiracy to defraud the government, tax evasion and helping to file false corporate tax returns.

John, Helen, and Dimitrios Zourdos operated three Dippin' Donuts coffee and donut shops with locations in Rome and New Hartford.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says from 2012 to 2017, the three concealed about $4.5 million in cash sales and evaded more than $2 million in individual and corporate tax returns.

Authorities say that did that by depositing cash directly into the personal bank accounts, and provided their accountants with incomplete information, causing the accountants to file false individual and corporate tax returns with the IRS.

The trio also also paid some of their employees “off the books” cash wages to avoid federal payroll taxes.

Officials say the unreported income was used to fund a lavish lifestyle that included multiple luxury vehicles, expensive watches, investment accounts, and real estate.

U.S. District Court Judge David Hurd sentenced John Zourdos to 30 months in prison,  Helen Zourdos to 20 months in prison and Dimitris Zourdos to 10 months.

Judge Hurd also ordered the defendants to pay $2,000,769 in restitution to the United States and to serve three years of supervised release after they complete their prison terms.

The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division.