Ciprianis’ Plea Could Cost License

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Two owners of top New York City restaurants and event spaces will be sentenced in court for felony and misdemeanor tax fraud charges today and may soon face the loss of their liquor license from the State Liquor Authority. Their business, however, does not appear to be slowing.

Next month, Meals on Wheels will hold its annual “Power Lunch for Women” event at the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center, and Crain’s New York Business will hold its Influential Women luncheon at a Cipriani’s event space on 42nd Street. On Monday, the nonprofit group Americans for the Arts will present its National Arts Awards at the same venue.

In July, Arrigo Cipriani, 75, and Giuseppe Cipriani, 42, pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges and agreed to pay $10 million in back taxes to New York State and City. Arrigo Cipriani oversees the family business and pleaded guilty to felony tax charges, while his son Giuseppe Cipriani, who is the president and chief executive officer of Cipriani USA, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges. Three of their corporations also pleaded guilty to tax felonies.

Convicted felons are prohibited from holding liquor licenses, though the Ciprianis could be exempt if the sentencing judge or a parole officer grants them a certificate of relief from civil disabilities, a spokesman for the State Liquor Authority, William Crowley, said.

They will be barred permanently from any ownership or managerial affiliation with any place that has a liquor license, Mr. Crowley said.

After hotelier Leona Helmsley was convicted of tax evasion in 1989, she was denied a liquor license.

The family’s restaurants and event spaces in the city include the Rainbow Room, Cipriani 42nd Street, Cipriani Dolci at Grand Central Terminal, Downtown Cipriani in SoHo, and Cipriani on Wall Street.


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