EDWARDSVILLE – An Edwardsville restaurant owner accused of filing false tax returns to avoid paying over $100,000 in sales taxes to the State of Illinois was recently indicted by a grand jury.
Saran Puribhat, 54, of Belleville, was indicted on two counts of theft of governmental property over $100,000 (both Class X felonies), one count of sales tax evasion (a Class 1 felony), one count of wire fraud (a Class 3 felony) and 35 counts of fraudulent filings of sales tax returns (each Class 3 felonies).
From Jan. 1, 2020 to Feb. 19, 2024, Puribhat allegedly knowingly caused Zapp Thai restaurant to fail to remit a portion of its sales tax money to the State of Illinois, with the total amount unlawfully withheld from the state exceeding $100,000…