Owner of Lake View restaurant charged with tax evasion, theft

The owner of a north side Lake View neighborhood restaurant has been charged with defrauding the state of Illinois out of more than $100,000 in a tax evasion scheme.

Sandra Sanchez, 43, was charged in Cook County with theft and tax evasion, according to a statement from the Illinois Attorney General’s office.

Sanchez, an owner of Cesar’s Killer Margaritas at 3166 N. Clark, is accused of using an automated sales suppression device to underreport more than $1 million in sales to the Illinois Department of Revenue, prosecutors said.

She allegedly used such a device, called a “tax zapper,” to falsify electronic sales records to avoid paying the full amount of sales and use taxes that the business owed, the attorney general’s office said. The state banned the use of sales suppression devices and software in 2013.

“Illinois criminalized the use of tax suppression devices to prevent efforts to defraud the state,” Attorney General Lisa Madigan said in the statement. “These charges should send a message that using technology will not protect criminals from being held accountable.”

Sanchez, who lives in Morton Grove, is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 6, prosecutors said.