Restaurant moguls Giuseppe Cipriani, 42, and Arrigo Cipriani, 75, accepted a plea today to willfully filing falsified state and local tax returns for the tax years 2003 and 2004. The admittance means that the pair will be required to pay $10 million in back taxes and penalties. Additionally, Giuseppe will serve three years of probation; Arrigo will serve five.
The Ciprianis currently own a number of restaurants including the famed Rainbow Room. The Rockefellers owned the Rainbow Room, located on the 65th floor of Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, until selling out to the Ciprianis in 1998. The Ciprianis also own Harry Cipriani on Fifth Avenue, Cipriani Dolci in Grand Central, Downtown Cipriani in Soho, Cipriani 42nd Street, and the original Harry’s Bar in Venice, Florida.
The Ciprianis aren’t the only folks from the company who have recently faced legal troubles. The vice president of their company, Cipriani USA, Dennis Pappas was previously sentenced to up to 4-1/2 years for filing false disability claims.
