Boston Cab Owner Tutunjian Cops to Tax Evasion, Wage Fraud

Edward J. Tutunjian, 67, of Belmont, Massachusetts, has been sentenced for a years-long scheme to cheat the IRS, exploit workers, and game federal programs while running Boston Cab through his company, EJT Management, Inc. Tutunjian pleaded guilty in August 2016 to five counts of tax evasion, one count of employing illegal aliens, and one count of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay overtime—crimes that unraveled a decades-old operation built on cash, deception, and systemic exploitation.

Sentenced in U.S. District Court in Boston by Judge Douglas P. Woodlock, Tutunjian received 20 months of probation, with 18 months required at Coolidge House, a community correctional facility. He must pay a minimum of $28,999 per year for confinement costs—or up to 25% of his income, whichever is higher. The financial reckoning is already underway: Tutunjian has paid $1,391,012 in restitution to the IRS for unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest, and an additional $699,717 to the U.S. Department of Labor for stolen overtime wages owed to employees.

Since 1972, Tutunjian and EJT Management operated one of Boston’s largest cab services, at one point leasing out 372 taxi medallions for millions in mostly cash revenue. While drivers were independent contractors, Tutunjian employed mechanics, dispatchers, and office staff—many of whom were undocumented workers paid entirely in untraceable cash. These employees were never issued W-2 forms, and no federal income, Social Security, or Medicare taxes were withheld or paid on their behalf, effectively erasing them from the tax system.

The fraud deepened as Tutunjian manipulated payroll records to hide the truth. Employees—both legal and undocumented—were paid partly in cash and partly by check, but only the check amounts appeared on quarterly tax filings. This off-the-books system allowed EJT Management to evade approximately $739,204 in federal employment taxes between 2009 and 2013. The IRS was left in the dark while Tutunjian funneled cash through the shadows of his operation.

Overtime violations were just as calculated. Workers who logged 50 or even 60 hours a week were forced to clock out at 40 hours on electronic time systems that fed payroll data to a third-party provider. The extra hours were paid under the table in cash, but at straight-time rates—not the legally required time-and-a-half. This systematic wage theft stripped workers of earned income while padding the company’s bottom line with illicit savings.

EJT Management, Inc. itself was sentenced to 20 months of probation after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting the theft of public money—specifically, helping employees fraudulently obtain federally subsidized housing in Cambridge and elsewhere, where waiting lists stretched for years. The company has since paid $219,307 in restitution to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The case lays bare a web of corruption rooted in cash, control, and the exploitation of vulnerable workers and public systems alike.