CINCINNATI — A Subway restaurant franchise owner pleaded guilty to committing income tax fraud, authorities announced Monday.
Mohammed Mike Bassini, 48, of Middletown, is the owner and operator of seven Subway franchises in the Cincinnati-Dayton area through three corporations.
In 2015, authorities said Bassini was delinquent with several income tax return filings, having not filed an individual return since 2010 and having never filed a corporate tax return for his three corporations.
When Bassini did finally hire a CPA firm to prepare the returns, he knowingly provided false figures, according to a news release from the IRS. The false corporate income tax filed as a result of the incorrect figures "resulted in a substantial understatement of Bassini's ordinary business income," officials said.
Bassini pleaded guilty to filing a false income tax return with the IRS, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
