Cipriani guilty pleas
Arrigo Cipriani, 75, head of the international restaurant group, and his son Giuseppe Cipriani, 42, president of Cipriani USA, the holding company for the group’s American establishments, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to evading $10 million in New York State and City taxes, Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced.
The guilty pleas also include three Cipriani corporations, Cipriani Fifth Ave. LLC, operator of the Rainbow Room and Rainbow Grill at 30 Rockefeller Plaza; Downtown Restaurant Co. LLC, operator of the restaurant at 376 W. Broadway in Soho, and GC Alpha, LLC, operator of Cipriani Dolci in Grand Central Terminal.
Arrigo pleaded guilty to felony tax charges while Giuseppe pleaded to misdemeanor tax charges. They agreed to pay $10 million in back taxes and to install an independent monitor to oversee tax treatment at all family enterprises until the 2011 tax year. Felony tax evasion is punishable by up to four years in prison and misdemeanor tax evasion is punishable by up to one year in jail. Prosecutors have not called for jail sentences.
The group also operates banquet facilities at the Toy Center, 200 Fifth Ave., and the restaurants Harry Cipriani at 781 Fifth Ave. and Cipriani at 55 Wall St.
The investigation began in November 2005, and the first conviction was in May of this year when Dennis Pappas, former Cipriani USA vice president, pleaded guilty to attempted insurance fraud for defrauding three insurance companies and the Social Security Administration of more than $1 million. He was sentenced to from one and a half to four and a half years in prison and restitution of $1,017,000.
The tax evasions that the Ciprianis pleaded guilty to involved illegal tax deductions that Cipriani USA took on sham royalty payments to its Luxembourg parent company, Cipriani SA, according to the District Attorney’s office.
Tryst and trouble
A resident of 232 W. 16th St. told police he invited a man to his apartment for sex at 2 a.m. Sat. July 28 and a half hour later, the guest got dressed and started walking out with two laptops and an iPod. The victim, 32, tried to stop him but the guest, identified as William Anthony of Jersey City, punched him in the head and fled. The victim also said that his bank and credit cards had been taken from his pants pocket.
Liquor store robbery
Police arrested William Parker, 43, in connection with the daytime robbery on Thurs. July 26 of a liquor store at 156 Ninth Ave. at W. 19th St. Parker is charged with first degree robbery and second degree assault on the owner, who suffered a broken thumb and a dislocated shoulder during the 12:35 p.m. incident. The suspect was held in lieu of $50,000 bail pending a court appearance later this week.
Assault outside club
Three men were charged with assault, and one of them also with criminal possession of a weapon in connection with a July 14 attack at 4:45 a.m. Sat. on a man as he was leaving Avalon, the club located in a former church on Sixth Ave. at 20th St., the District Attorney’s office said. Carrington Black, 20, was charged with assault and with criminal possession of a weapon for hitting the victim, 25, on the ear and the side of the head with a bottle. Charged with assault were Kirwan Jahman, 18, and Darrell Wright, 21. Bail for Black was set at $4,000 and for the other two defendants at $1,000 each pending an Oct. 25 court appearance.
Street holdup
A New Jersey man parked his car on Eighth Ave. at 16th St. at 12:15 a.m. Mon. July 30 and was walking down the avenue when a man wielding a handgun stopped him and demanded money, police said. The victim, 25, raised his hands, and the thief took $150 out of his right front trouser pocket and fled. The gunman was described as Hispanic, about 5’10”, weighing about 170 pounds and wearing blue jeans, an orange T-shirt and a black baseball cap.
Street muggers
Two robbers came up behind a woman walking to her apartment on W. 16th St. between Seventh and Eighth Aves. at 5:15 a.m. Wed. July 25, struck her on the head with a stick and demanded money, police said. She refused and the two men fled, police said.
Some shirt!
The owner of a clothing boutique at 258 Eighth Ave. at 23rd St. told police on Saturday evening July 28 that he noticed 62 striped polo shirts and 10 trousers with a total value of $2,324 were missing and apparently stolen from their showcases in the rear of the shop.
Cash gone
The owner of Rainbows and Triangles, the card shop at 192 Eighth Ave. at 20th St., told police on Sat. July 28 that someone had entered the shop the previous night and made off with an envelope containing $4,350 that was kept behind the store computer.
Safe not safe
The manager of Pita Grill, 92 Eighth Ave. near W. 15th St., told police he went to the drop box in the safe behind the cashier counter in the front of the store at about 2 a.m. Tues. July 17 to pick up money for a bank deposit and found that three day’s receipts totaling $6,981 were gone. There was no forced entry.
Assault
Housing police arrested Serena Wilcox, 24, in front of 420 W. 19th St. in the Fulton Houses at about 3:15 a.m. Sun. July 22 and charged her with assaulting another woman and punching the housing police officer who arrested her.
Car crimes
Chelsea Rental, 549 W. 26th St., reported on Sun. July 29 that one of their trucks valued at $35,000 was stolen from the curbside space in front of the garage. A Chelsea man who put his car, a 2005 Honda, in a parking garage at 355 W. 26th St. at 4 p.m. on Sat. July 14, went to retrieve it at 10:10 p.m. and discovered it had been stolen. A New Jersey woman who parked her car on W. 20th St. across from the General Theological Seminary at 1:35 a.m. Sat. July 22 returned 15 minutes later and found the driver’s side window smashed and her Coach wallet with her driver’s registration and credit cards were gone.
— Al Amateau
