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Two Dorchester men charged in Pakistani fried-chicken tax-evasion case

A federal grand jury this week indicted two Dorchester residents and a Dedham man for their alleged roles in a tax-fraud scheme involving their now closed Columbia Road fried-chicken take-out place.

The grand jury indicted Muhamad Siyab Khan and Khurshed Jehan Badshah, of Dorchester, and Ayaz Ali Shah of Dedham on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and filing false tax returns in connection with the New York Fried Chicken joint, formerly at 531 Columbia Rd. the US Attorney's office reports. Shah and Badshah were also charged with two counts of willfully filing their own false individual income tax returns for tax years 2012 and 2013. Khan is additionally charged with two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of his own false and fraudulent tax returns for tax years 2012 and 2013.

The place was one of 11 New York Fried Chicken and Crown Chicken places in Boston and Chelsea set up by Pakistani nationals working with Hazrat Ali Khan, a Pakistani man living in Middletown, NY, who came up with a scheme to boost profits through creative bookkeeping.

Hazrat Ali Khan was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $2.3 million in back taxes and fines in 2017 after pleading guilty.

The outlets were located in Dorchester, Mattapan, Roxbury, Hyde Park, Brighton and Chelsea. The Hyde Park one was shut by the Boston Licensing Board over ownership questions, then allowed to re-open under a new owner.

The Columbia Road indictment, which refers to Khan as describes him as "Co-Conspirator #1," offers a similar story to all the other indictments against Khan and other local men at other restaurants: Khan offered to help the men start a business in exchange for a 40% ownership - and a slice of the true profits that were inflated by reporting false and dramatically lowered revenue and profit figures on tax returns.

According to the indictment, between 2009 and 2014, the three local men and Khan "used a variety of means" to evade paying income taxes on revenue from the shop, including hiding their true income from their tax preparer, not depositing nightly receipts in their business bank account, under-reporting pay on W-2 forms, keeping a separate set of books with the take-out place's true financial figures and filing false tax returns that substantially under-reported the place's revenue and profits. The local men also allegedly made payments to Khan in cash.

The three men could face up to eight years in federal prison if convicted.

Innocent, etc.

Complete indictment (2M PDF).

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Comments

Like sum good fried chicken. Who sez? Magoo sez.

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Why do u id this as Pakistani? If cornel sanders did this would u say old southerly gentlemen tax fraud? Or perdue plain old white guy tax fraud?

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In case you missed it in the story, a Pakistani guy in the Catskills specifically recruited fellow Pakistani nationals in the Boston area to set up and run these places. There are some links in the story to more background, including this one.

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It:'s not relevent unless you are lookimg for it.

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I've found it interesting, but to each his or her own.

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The link to the inditement does not work.

Also, which location in Chelsea did this guy run

I only ask cuz... New York friends rave about Crown Fried chicken. I ordered some a few years back via some delivery service and it was probably the worst I've ever had.

Since it has new owners, I wonder if it improved at all.

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Sorry about that.

The Crown Fried Chicken in question was at 895 Broadway. Some background on that case.

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“Pakistani fried-chicken tax-evasion case“ sounds like a line from “it’s the end of the world”

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It surely wasn't the best fried chicken but it was cheap. There were insane deals like 30 pieces for 20 something dollars if I recall correctly.

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I guess no nation or ethnic group is immune from organized crime ...

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Nobody involved in this case has been charged with a RICO violation - it sounds more like one guy had an idea and then managed to drag in some suckers to help him out.

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The one on Columbia Road was greasy and horrible. I am surprised it got business since there is a KFC across the street which is much better.

Maybe I am not the best person to comment but I think fried chicken is overrated. Yes, it’s a soul food staple so the black community gets somewhat of a pass but doesn’t it seem like a lot of people pretend to like the stuff? People will be like, “yeah bro, I love fried chicken” but they will never eat it. Taste-wise, ok maybe, but is it worth the greasy mess eating out of a bucket with your hands and then having those dreadful sides? Plus the stuff is full of canola oil /trans fat which will cause heart disease and turn you into a fat f***. It’s pretty much food for slobs, IMHO.

***Source: I am a personal trainer.

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