The owner of several Twin Cities restaurants and his corporation have been accused of underpaying the state more than $180,000 in sales tax and income tax revenue over the past several years.
Daron E. Close, of White Bear Lake, and his DC Restaurants were charged Friday in Ramsey County District Court with six felony counts each in connection with failure to pay taxes.
The charges against Close and his business, whose restaurants have included an Acqua on the shorelines of White Bear Lake and Forest Lake and a Meet Market in each of those cities, specifically address roughly $13,000 in sales tax underpayments from 2015 to 2017. However, the criminal complaint also points out that state audits covering other time periods bring the overall total to more than $86,000 in sales tax shortfalls.
Also, a state audit of DC Restaurants covering 2012-15 revealed that Close underreported the business' income and owed nearly $97,000 in taxes, the charges read.
Close told the Star Tribune on Monday that all of the sales tax underpayments, except the $13,000 covered in one audit, have been paid off, along with penalties.
He added that "as far as I know," the income tax shortfall also has been satisfied.
Close, who was charged by summons, said he's been "forthright and upfront with the whole process. … I've never contested anything in the past."
He explained that the problems came while his restaurant business "grew so fast. The accounting was tough to keep up with. Now I don't do that anymore, which is fortunate."
