Restaurant Owners Guilty in Tax Case
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A Westlake couple who failed to report more than $1 million in taxable income from two restaurants they own admitted their guilt in Los Angeles District Court on Monday, U.S. Atty. Nora M. Manella announced.
Akio Kawashima 53, and Fusako Kawashima, 46, pleaded guilty to separate felony counts. Akio Kawashima admitted to making a false statement on a tax return for their restaurant, Cho Cho San, which has outlets in Thousand Oaks and Tarzana. His wife admitted to assisting her husband in preparing the false tax return for the tax year ending Oct. 31, 1991, said Steven Linick, assistant U.S. attorney.
Linick declined to say how the Internal Revenue Service, which conducted the investigation, was alerted to the Kawashimas’ crime. The couple’s false tax report cost the federal government more than $245,000 in unpaid taxes, he said.
The Kawashimas, who could be sentenced to three years in federal prison, are scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 10.
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