Richard “Richie” Bhoolai, 65, of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States owned and operated an S-Corporation named Richie’s Fast Food Restaurants Inc. Since 1991, it has been operating three fried chicken restaurants in the Cincinnati area.
Richard Bhoolai
Between at least 2017 and 2018, Bhoolai employed between 22 and 34 employees. He was responsible for withholding Social Security, Medicare and income taxes from the wages of the employees and paying those funds over to the Internal Revenue Service, which is based in Washington, D.C., USA.
During this period, Richie’s Fast Food Restaurant neither filed quarterly employment tax returns nor transmitted to the IRS payroll taxes it collected despite withholding payroll taxes from its employees’ paychecks. Bhoolai used money from the businesses for his personal benefit, including gambling in excess of $1 million, instead of paying over the taxes.
On April 26, 2023, a federal grand jury indicted Bhoolai on eight counts of willful failure to account for or pay over employment taxes. With coordination from the criminal investigation of the IRS, the Hamilton County Police Department arrested him on April 29, 2023.
On September 16, 2024, the trial began. On September 20, 2024, a federal jury found Bhoolai guilty of eight counts of failing to pay over taxes.
Bhoolai’s sentencing date has yet to be set. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each of the eight counts.
Cincinatti
Anchored along the winding Ohio River, Cincinnati bridges rich industrial history with a dynamic modern culture. It serves as the economic and cultural heart of a tri-state region spanning Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.
Founded in 1788, Cincinnati grew rapidly in the nineteenth century into a major riverport and manufacturing hub. Waves of German immigration left a lasting mark on the city’s identity, visible today in the historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood—home to one of the nation’s largest preserved collections of Italianate architecture, thriving craft breweries, and the historic Findlay Market.
Today, Cincinnati combines big-city amenities with Midwestern charm. It houses major Fortune 500 headquarters, prestigious medical centers, and world-class cultural institutions like the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and Music Hall. Sports culture runs deep as well, anchored by the Cincinnati Reds—the nation’s first professional baseball team—and the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals.
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