Tax Crimes Land Pizza Patriarch From Moorestown With 1 Day Behind Bars

PHILADELPHIA — A family leader of a regionally well-known pizzeria chain was sentenced Monday to a day behind bars and 18 months of supervised release for tax crimes.

Frank Santucci Sr., 67, of Moorestown, owned and operated several Santucci's Original Square Pizza locations.

Santucci significantly underreported the company's earnings, causing him and the business to underpay taxes by about $1.4 million, according to federal prosecutors.

In May, Santucci was charged with two counts of tax evasion and two counts of filing false tax returns. He pleaded guilty about a week later in Philadelphia federal court.

• Read more: Philly Pizza Chain Owner Admits To Tax Crimes

Santucci was sentenced to one day in prison, which was served Monday in the Marshal's Lock-Up, according to court documents.

His sentence also includes 18 months of supervised release, 300 hours of community service, a $15,000 fine and restitution of $374,944 — the amount he failed to pay in personal taxes from 2015-18.

During that time, Santucci maintained two sets of financial records as an informal bookkeeper for his family's North Broad Street shop in Philadelphia, prosecutors say. One set contained the shop's income, payroll and expenses, while the other reflected its weekly cash earnings.

Santucci concealed the cash earnings in bank accounts unaffiliated with the business, causing his New Jersey accountants to file tax false returns in 2017 and 2018, according to prosecutors.

Under the scheme, Santucci failed to pay $374,944 in personal taxes, while his co-owners withheld about $700,000 and the business underpaid its employment taxes by roughly $300,000, prosecutors say.

In 1959, Santucci's Original Square Pizza opened their first shop in Philadelphia. The business now has more than a dozen eateries across Greater Philly and South Jersey — several of which are franchised.

Frank Santucci Sr. took over the family business in 1976, adopting the brand from his parents, who founded Santucci's.

Santucci remains a part-owner of the business but is now retired, according to his attorney, Richard J. Fuschino.

The financial penalties have been paid in-full, Fuschino told Patch.

"He's accepted responsibility. He's apologized," Fuschino said. "The court took that apology as obviously sincere."