Karl Knocker, Tax Evasion, Florida 2023

Tampa, Florida – In a shocking turn of events, Karl Knocker, owner of a Sarasota restaurant, has pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to provide information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as required by law relating to his income tax liability.

According to the plea agreement and information presented at the plea hearing, Knocker’s scheme to defraud the IRS involved removing the records of daily cash sales from point-of-sale registers at the restaurant, leaving the record to consist only of credit card sales. His partner and co-owner, Madeline Nikolson, was also involved in the scheme.

The owners kept the true record of their sales and income secret and did not disclose it to the IRS, as required by the Internal Revenue Code and regulations. As a result, they falsified and removed any reference to approximately $726,105 in sales income from their corporate and personal tax returns for tax years 2016, 2017, and 2018.

The falsified record of sales income was provided to tax preparers who prepared both their personal income tax returns and their corporate tax returns. This resulted in over $100,000 of taxes due and owing on those sums of unreported income.

Nikolson previously pleaded guilty for her role in this case, and her sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 1, 2023.

The case was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation Division. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jay L. Hoffer.

Knocker faces a maximum penalty of three years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

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