Owner of Ohio fast food restaurant pleads guilty to $2.4 million tax fraud scheme

In a story that unfolds a bit like the Los Pollos Hermanos saga in the hit TV show Breaking Bad, the owner of an Ohio fast food restaurant pleaded guilty to a multi-million dollar tax fraud scheme on Aug. 28.

Ali Shahid Butt, who lives in Princeton New Jersey but partially owns multiple fast food restaurants throughout the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic (including a location in Zanesville), pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit tax fraud.

The name of Butt’s Ohio restaurant was not disclosed, although according to  Franchising.com story, in 2016, Butt was the franchisee for 25 Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen locations, across five states.

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According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio,, with Butt’s knowledge, his franchise co-owners and managers often paid employees in cash and did report or pay tax withholdings for these employees.

His fraudulent tax activity, with  the help of alleged co-conspirator Bahadar “Sam” Durrani, took place  between 2015 and 2021.

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