A bookkeeper has pleaded guilty for helping the owner of local restaurants evade taxes.  59-year old Idalecia Lopes Santos of Queens Village, New York, waived her right to be indicted yesterday.  She worked for Bruno DeFabio, who owned Pinocchio Pizza in Wilton and other restaurants in Connecticut and New York. 

Santos admitted that she and others at the accounting firms knew DiFabio and his businesses took cash from the registers and did not deposit into the restaurants’ operating bank accounts.  The accounting firm though still used the bank records to determine gross receipts of the businesses, and the cash that was removed from the registers was not reported to the IRS.  

Certain employees had their entire wages paid “off the books,” while a portion of other employees’ wages was not reported. 

DiFabio pleaded guilty, agreeing the lost to the IRS was $816,954.  DiFabio awaits sentencing.  His business partner in some of his restaurants, Steven Cioffi, pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and assisting in the filing of a false tax return.  He also awaits sentencing. 

They also operated Pinocchio Pizza in New Canaan, Connecticut; Amore Pizza in Scarsdale; Amore Cucina and Bar in Stamford; ReNapoli Pizza, in Old Greenwich; and Pinocchio Pizza in Pound Ridge.