The owners of a northern New Jersey restaurant have admitted filing false tax returns that cheated the government out of nearly $300,000.
Nicola Esposito of Franklin Lakes and Giovanni Esposito of Mahwah each pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Newark to one count of subscribing to a false tax return.
Each faces up to three-years in prison at their sentencing in September.
Prosecutors say for sentencing purposes, a judge can take into account Nicola Esposito's failure to report income and cash payroll from the Villa Amalfi restaurant in Cliffside Park between 2005 and 2008, and Giovanni Esposito's failing to report all his income from the restaurant during the same period.
The total loss to the government was estimated at $283,000.
