Charles "Chuck" Bangle, owner of Manco & Manco Pizza, pleaded guilty Thursday to a pair tax-evasion charges, 11 days before he was scheduled to go to trial on a 30-count indictment.
The owners of the popular Manco & Manco pizza chain in Ocean City hid hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits from their cash-only business to avoid paying income taxes, and then lied to IRS agents investigating their crimes.
Charles and Mary Bangle, both of Somers Point, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Camden to some charges contained in a 30-count indictment filed against them in 2014.
Charles Bangle, 55, pleaded guilty to one count of income tax evasion, and one count of structuring financial transactions to avoid reporting requirements. Structuring is an illegal process through which a pattern of cash deposits are made in amounts of less than $10,000 to avoid IRS reporting requirements.
Mary Bangle, 54, pleaded guilty to knowingly making false statements to IRS special agents. She is likely to receive probation, said her attorney, Rocco C. Cipparone Jr. of Haddon Heights.
Contacted on his cell phone Thursday afternoon, Charles Bangle said, “I have no comment, thank you very much,” and referred all questions to his attorney, Vincent P. Sarubbi of Haddonfield.
In a joint statement issued Thursday afternoon, Sarubbi and Cipparone said: “Today, Chuck and Mary Bangle, by their respective guilty pleas, accepted responsibility in their ongoing dispute with the government, and specifically the IRS. By resolving this stressful matter in this way, Chuck and Mary now can put this behind them, and will continue leading the positive, productive and community-minded lives they always have led.”
Numerous counts in the indictment were dismissed in exchange for the couple's guilty pleas, the attorneys noted in their release.
The Bangles' guilty pleas came less than two weeks before they were to stand trial on a 30-count indictment alleging they hid from the IRS almost $1 million in cash earnings, which the government alleged the couple used for sometimes lavish personal expenses.
"Although Chuck has fully accepted responsibility for the crimes to which he (pleaded) guilty today, after our review of the government’s evidence in the case since the time of the indictment, certain factual and legal aspects of the government’s claims still remain in dispute, and will be resolved at the sentencing phase of this process," Sarubbi said. "The appropriate forum to resolve those disputes is at the sentencing phase of this matter rather than at a protracted trial."
Cipparone said that while Mary Bangle admitted giving false statements to IRS agents, "she made them during an unannounced early morning visit to her home by two IRS agents, which would be a stressful and disconcerting experience for anyone.”
Manco & Manco has three locations on the Ocean City Boardwalk and another on the mainland in Somers Point. Anthony Mack and Vincent Manco founded the chain in 1956, and it was known as Mack & Manco until 2011, when the partnership between the two families ended. Charles Bangle, the son-in-law of former co-owners Frank and Kay Manco, bought a controlling interest in the business that year, and changed its name.
Manco & Manco is a cash-only business that does not accept credit cards. The chain's four locations earn a combined $4.5 million annually.
Charles Bangle handled the day-to-day operations of the local pizza empire, and Mary Bangle was responsible for overseeing its finances and payroll.
Charles Bangle admitted in court Thursday to significantly underreporting his income on his 2010 federal income-tax return by failing to report taxable income deposited as cash into his personal bank account that year. He reported income of $127,955 in 2010, omitting an additional $263,113 in taxable income, according to the indictment. By underreporting his income that year, Charles Bangle avoided $91,577 in federal income taxes, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Bangle also admitted to making multiple deposits of less than $10,000 into his personal bank account in February 2011 to avoid reporting requirements.
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Mary Bangle admitted Thursday that when IRS special agents questioned her in May 2012, she lied about how she disbursed cash receipts from the business. She told the agents she kept only enough cash to meet the weekly payroll and pay some business expenses, but she actually kept some of the cash for herself, according the U.S. Attorney’s Office. She also lied about how much cash from the business she deposited into her personal bank account, which was substantially more than the net pay listed on her income tax forms issued by Manco & Manco.
Charles Bangle faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine for income-tax evasion; the structuring count caries a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fines.
In an email Thursday, Sarubbi said Charles Bangle's plea agreement "provides the government with the opportunity to argue for what it believes may be the appropriate sentence. Similarly, the defense has the right to present its position to the court regarding the appropriate sentence including no incarceration."
Mary Bangle faced a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
The couple’s sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 8, 2015 before U.S. District Court Judge Robert B. Kugler.
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