Willowbrook tobacco store manager charged with tax fraud

A southwest suburban tobacco store manager was charged with tax fraud Thursday for allegedly under-reporting nearly $3 million in sales.

Abdullah Dahleh, 35, has been charged with 45 felony counts, including sales tax evasion over $100,000, the Cook County state’s attorney’s office said in a statement.

Dahleh, who manages Tobacco Outlet Cigarettes, Cigars & More in Willowbrook, is accused of under-reporting more than $2.79 million in sales to the Illinois Department of Revenue, prosecutors said. The fraud resulted in a loss of $202,508.31 in taxes for the state.

In addition to the tax evasion count, Dahleh was also charged with a single count of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, 38 counts of filing a fraudulent sales and use tax return, and three counts of filing a fraudulent income tax return, the state’s attorney’s office said. His bond was set at $200,000.