Owner of Clarksville restaurant, nail salon pleads guilty to tax evasion

A Clarksville business owner pleaded guilty Wednesday to tax evasion in U.S. District Court.

Andrew Huy Nguyen, owner of Call It Pho restaurant and Venus Nails Spa on Wilma Rudolph Boulevard, admitted responsibility for a tax loss of more than $428,000, according to David Boling, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Nashville.

Nguyen was charged on March 3 in connection with a criminal information filing, which alleged that the business owner avoided paying the restaurant employer’s share of taxes to the IRS by underreporting the wages, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

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Nguyen hid the true amount of wages paid to the restaurant employees by failing to issue employees W2 forms, paying some employees solely in cash and by paying some employees using a mix of checks and cash, the release said.

Nyugen also disguised the wages paid to employees as “nonemployee compensation," by issuing 1099 forms instead of W2 forms and made it appear as if those employees worked at Venus Nails Spa, it said.

The owner used similar tactics with nail technicians at the salon business, paying employees at least $946,716 in cash, which was not reported to the IRS, the release said.

For tax years 2017-2019, Nyugen evaded more than $34,000 of the employer’s employment taxes related to Call It Pho, it said.

"In addition, Nguyen willfully failed to withhold and pay the IRS about $78,667 in employment taxes and federal income taxes from his employees’ paychecks at Call It Pho," Boling said.

Nguyen can face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He has agreed to pay immediate restitution of $428,620 and has a sentencing hearing on Sept. 23.

Alexis Clark can be reached at aclark@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: Clarksville business owner pleads guilty to tax evasion