5 liquor store owners charged in tax fraud sweep

Five people have been charged with sales tax evasion after the Illinois Department of Revenue and the Secret Service cracked down on liquor store owners in Illinois.

Four were charged with sales tax evasion of more than $100,000, a Class 1 felony punishable by 4-15 years in prison, the Illinois attorney general’s office said. Two were charged with sales tax evasion of more than $10,000 and one was charged with evasion of over $500.

Those charged are:

• Diptiben Patel, 38, of Munster, In, operator of Patson Liquor, Inc. (doing business as Buddy’s Liquors/Cardinal Liquor);
• Ashwinkumar Patel, 45, of Tinley Park, Il, operator of AM Wine and Spirits (doing business as Marshfield Wine and Spirits);
• Sanjaykumar K. Soni, 50, of Tinley Park, Il, operator of KVS Calumet City Liquor Business, Inc. (doing business as Miska’s Food and Liquor);
• Rajendrakumar P.Patel, 51, of Worth, Il, operator of KVS Calumet City Liquor Business, Inc. (doing business as Miska’s Food and Liquor); and
• Ajaykumar C. Patel, 51, of Morton Grove, Ill.: Dabaang, Inc (doing business as Harper Food and Liquor).

“The charges are part of a joint effort with IDOR to investigate and prosecute untaxed or bootlegged liquor brought in from outside Illinois,” the attorney general’s office said.

In 2015, nine liquor store owners were similarly charged after the implementation of the sales tax evasion law in 2013, the attorney general’s office said.

“Allegations of illegal importation of alcohol to defraud our tax system is a problem we take seriously,” Illinois Department of Revenue Director designate David Harris said.