UPDATE: West Bloomfield Men Face Federal Charges in Alleged Happy's Pizza Scheme

UPDATE: Happy's Pizza Franchise, LLC issued the following statement Wednesday in response to Tuesday's U.S. Department of Justice release related to charges filed against Happy's Pizza founder and two West Bloomfield men:

"We are gratified that the speculation and innuendo that accompanied the federal government’s raid of our corporate offices has ended. In August of 2010, nearly 30 DEA, ATF and IRS agents stormed the corporate offices of Happy’s Pizza Franchise and seized all business and personal records to much hype and media speculation. Today, after nearly three years of investigation and with the full cooperation of our company, it was finally revealed that neither the DEA nor the ATF found any evidence of wrongdoing.

"The present indictment of founder Happy Asker is premised solely on the alleged underreporting of income by 7 of our 100 independently owned and operated franchisee restaurants. Over 3 years, the IRS utilized its immense resources to exhaustively investigate all 100 of our franchisee restaurants in over 6 states as well as the supporting businesses and employees that make up the Happy’s Pizza system to ultimately allege irregularities in tax reporting.

"As stated by the Department of Justice in their press release on this case, all Americans, even those facing a seemingly imposing indictment, are presumed innocent. With the continued support of our franchisees, employees, business associates and, most importantly, our loyal customers, we look forward to continuing regular business operations while vigorously defending our founder against these baseless allegations."

According to a U.S. Justice Department press release, an indictment unsealed Tuesday named Happy Asker, the company founder, and Maher Bashi, an executive officer, and Tom Yaldo, a shareholder, in an alleged tax evasion scheme. Officials say the men profited to the tune of $2.1 million.

The Detroit Free Press reports Bashi and Yaldo are West Bloomfield residents. 

Tagrid Bashi and Arkan Summan were also charged with obstruction. Their hometowns were not reported. 

According to the release, "If convicted of the conspiracy charge, the defendants face up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charges of filing a false income tax return and aiding or assisting in filing a false return carry a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each count. The obstruction charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for each count."

Happy's Pizza corporate headquarters is located on Orchard Lake Road, north of 13 Mile Road.