Sarasota waterfront restaurant owner pleads guilty to tax charges
A Sarasota restaurant owner has pleaded guilty to failing to provide information to the Internal Revenue Service, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida.
Karl Knocker, of The Boatyard Waterfront Bar & Grill, pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to provide information to the IRS as required by law relating to his income tax liability, U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced in a news release Monday. Knocker faces a maximum penalty of three years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to Florida public records, Knocker is the manager and registered agent of 3900 Trios LLC, which has food service and retail beverage licenses under the DBA (doing business as) name of Boatyard Waterfront Bar & Grill. The seafood restaurant is at 1500 Stickney Point Road at the base of the Stickney Point Bridge, overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway and south Siesta Key.
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"Karl Knocker has resolved his tax issues from four years ago with three misdemeanors," read a statement provided to the Herald-Tribune by Simon Gaugush, an attorney representing Knocker. "These misdemeanors will have no impact on the continuing operation of the Boatyard Waterfront Bar & Grill, which has been a standard of the Sarasota food scene since 2010. It’s noteworthy that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Boatyard stayed open, employing dozens of local workers without taking one dollar of government assistance. Karl looks forward to resolving this matter with the government and operating the Boatyard for years to come."
Beginning at least as early as August 2013, Knocker and his partner and restaurant co-owner Madeline Nikolson removed the records of daily cash sales from restaurant registers, leaving the record to consist only of credit card sales, the release said.
The two restaurant owners provided this record to tax preparers, who prepared both their personal income tax returns and corporate tax returns for tax years 2016, 2017 and 2018. Consequently, they removed any reference to approximately $726,105 in sales income from their corporate and personal tax returns for those tax years, resulting in more than $100,000 of taxes due and owing on those sums of unreported income, the release said.
Nikolson pleaded guilty earlier this year for her role in the case. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 1, 2023, the release said.
Email entertainment reporter Jimmy Geurts at jimmy.geurts@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota waterfront restaurant owner pleads guilty to tax charges
