The owners of Manco & Manco pizza in Ocean City, NJ will face trial July 13 on a 30-count indictment that alleges they hid almost $1 million in cash earnings from the Internal Revenue Service.
Lawyers for Charles and Mary Bangle had asked a federal judge to throw out a large part of the indictment and to exclude statements made by the Bangles because, they argued, their Miranda and Fifth Amendment rights were denied during an interrogation in the Bangles’ Somers Point home.
But in an order filed on Friday (May 22), Judge Robert B. Kugler denied all but one pre-trial motion from the Bangles.
All counts of the indictment remain standing, and no statement the Bangles made to IRS agents will be suppressed, according to Kugler’s ruling. Kugler did grant a request by the Bangles for the U.S. attorney to disclose all conduct evidence the government intends to use at trial.
Kugler set a trial date of July 13.
The trial will determine the fate of the owners of Ocean City’s iconic Boardwalk pizza chain.
The Bangles were arrested by Internal Revenue Service special agents in April 2014. They pleaded not guilty to an indictment that alleges they did not report $981,000 in income to IRS.
The indictment includes five counts of income tax evasion for 2007 through 2011 and one count of making false statements to the IRS. Charles Bangle is also charged with 23 counts of structuring financial transactions to avoid reporting requirements.
“Between 2007 and 2011, Charles and Mary Bangle skimmed large sums of cash from the business,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges. “Charles Bangle deposited significant amounts of that cash into their personal bank account at TD Bank in amounts less than $10,000, the amount which triggers a Currency Transaction Report from financial institutions to the U.S. Department of Treasury.”
“The Bangles then used the money to pay for personal expenditures. They concealed approximately $981,000 in income from the IRS, which they had a legal obligation to report on their personal income tax returns. Had they accurately reported all their income to the IRS, the Bangles would have owed an additional $336,273.”
Lawyers had argued in pre-trial motions that the Bangles had been coerced into making statements when IRS special agents made an unannounced 8 a.m. visit to the Bangles’ home in Somers Point on May 20, 2012. (Read more: Manco & Manco Attorneys: Quash Statements in Tax Evasion Case.)
The U.S. Attorney filed a legal reply that suggested the Bangles were not coerced and were, in fact, “cordial” in making potentially incriminating statements to the IRS agents. (Read more: U.S. Attorney: Manco & Manco Owners ‘Cordial in Making Incriminating Statements.)
Manco & Manco has three locations on the Ocean City Boardwalk and another on the mainland in Somers Point. For most of the iconic chain’s 58-year history in Ocean City, visitors knew the spot as Mack & Manco. Anthony Mack and Vincent Manco founded the chain in 1956. The partnership between the two families ended and the name changed in 2011. Chuck Bangle, the son-in-law of former co-owners Frank and Kay Manco, purchased a controlling interest at that time.
Each of the 30 counts of the indictment carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
