Pizza Shop Owner Indicted On Not Paying $114,000 In Meal Taxes

STURBRIDGE, MA—The former owner of a pizza shop in Sturbridge has been indicted in connection with failing to pay more than $114,000 in state meals taxes and filing false Massachusetts meals tax returns, Attorney General Maura Healey announced this week.

Theodore Metaxas, 53, Southbridge, was indicted Thursday by a Suffolk Superior Court Grand Jury on the charges of Willful Failure to Pay Over Tax and Willful Delivery of a False Tax Return (1 count each). He will be arraigned on Feb. 5 in Suffolk Superior Court.

The AG’s Office began its investigation in August 2017 following a referral from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR).

Metaxas managed and later owned Enrico’s Brick Oven Pizzeria in Sturbridge. Authorities allege that between 2011 and 2014, Metaxas only reported his credit card sales to DOR and failed to report cash sales, which accounted for approximately 40 percent of Enrico’s total sales. As a result, authorities allege that Metaxas willfully failed to truthfully account for and pay $114,780 to the DOR in meals taxes collected from customers, and that he willfully filed meals tax returns which inaccurately represented the amount of Enrico’s sales.

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