:: Cipriani Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion
NEW YORK - Restaurateur Giuseppe Cipriani, whose family runs the city's venerable Rainbow Room and Cipriani restaurants, pleaded guilty Tuesday along with his father to evading $10 million in state and city taxes.
Giuseppe and Arrigo Cipriani, and their corporation, admitted in state Supreme Court to knowingly filing falsified tax returns for 2003 and 2004.
Both left the courtroom without speaking to reporters.
On July 2, Dennis Pappas, a reputed mob money adviser who was vice president of Cipriani USA, was sentenced to prison for cheating Social Security and three insurance companies out of more than $1 million by filing false disability claims.
In addition to the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center, Cipriani operates Harry Cipriani downtown, Cipriani Dolci at Grand Central Terminal, and Cipriani 42nd Street.
