Popular NJ Restaurant Owner Paid Employees Under The Table: Feds

CAMDEN, NJ - The owner of two now-defunct Essex County restaurants admitted this week to evading over $700,000 in payroll taxes and paying employees under the table, federal authorities said.

Jorge Fernandes, 76, of West Orange, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Christine P. O’Hearn to two counts of failing to collect payroll taxes for the tax period of 2016 through 2017, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, Fernandes was the 50-percent owner of two restaurants in the Ironbound section of Newark, Iberia Tavern and Iberia Peninsula. Fernandes “was fully aware of his legal obligation to collect payroll taxes from the restaurants’ employees,” but instead paid a number of the employees off the books and did not collect any payroll taxes from them.

The action resulted in the government’s total tax loss of $715,780 for tax years 2016 through 2017.

The failing to collect payroll taxes charges to which Fernandes pleaded guilty each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 20, 2023.