An Orlando restauranteur who failed to pay more than $2 million in payroll taxes will spend nearly five years behind bars and must pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution.
Manuel Tato was sentenced to four years and nine months in federal prison for failing to pay employment taxes.
Tato was the owner and operator of multiple Orlando restaurants managed under Core Food Group, including Spice Modern Steakhouse, which was located at 407 E Central Boulevard in downtown Orlando.
During his ownership between 2010 and 2017, Tato filed for multiple bankruptcies on behalf of his companies. In 2017, Spice permanently closed its doors in downtown Orlando.
According to court records, Core Food Group employed approximately 645 workers between 2010 and 2017. The organization processed payroll for all employees and was responsible for collecting and paying employment taxes on behalf of those employees, including Federal Income tax, Medicare, and Social Security.
Despite withholding employment taxes and informing employees that he was doing so on their paystubs, Tato never paid the taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.
According to court records, in the eight months leading up to March 2017, Tato failed to pay $93,690.66 to the IRS. Throughout the entire time that Core Food Group existed, Tato failed to pay over $2 million in taxes.
Tato, who pled guilty to the charges in April, had faced a maximum penalty of five years in the case. Now, in addition to his prison sentence, Tato must pay a $250,000 fine and $93,690.66 in restitution.