Prominent Woodside Restaurant Stole $1M In Taxes, Authorities Say

WOODSIDE, QUEENS — The owner of a prominent restaurant and nightclub in Woodside has pleaded guilty to pocketing $1 million in sales tax from customers instead of turning it over to the state, prosecutors said this week.

Oscar Monegro, Jr. is the owner of Mamajuana Queens, a large Latin-themed enterprise on the corner of Broadway and 56th Street.

Between December 2012 and February 2020, Monegro collected at least $1 million in sales tax payments from customers, but failed to send those payments to the state as required by law, authorities said in an announcement on Monday.

Investigators from the state's tax department scrutinized the company's tax returns to uncover the fraud, authorities said.

Monegro pleaded guilty Monday to multiple felonies, including criminal tax fraud and grand larceny, the state said. He was prosecuted by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.

"The defendant and his business, Culturas Fiesta Corporation, admitted guilt in stealing at least a million dollars in tax revenue paid by customers in order [to] line his own pockets," Katz said in a statement, using Mamajuana's corporate name.

"Business owners who steal sales tax paid by their customers deprive their communities of revenue for vital public programs and services and put law-abiding businesses at a competitive disadvantage,” said Amanda Hiller, the state's acting commissioner of taxation and finance.

Mamajuana did not immediately return an email requesting comment. Monegro's guilty plea was first reported by Queens Post.

The small chain also operates nightclub-restaurants in Upper Manhattan, the Bronx, New Jersey, Long Island and Florida, though Monegro only owned the Queens location, according to his lInkedin profile.