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MILWAUKEE
— A Milwaukee-area restaurateur has been sentenced to two years
in prison for conspiring with his wife and son to skim millions of
dollars in cash from his business and failing to report that as
income.
Federal
prosecutors say Paul Bouraxis also paid workers in cash to avoid
payroll taxes.
Bouraxis’
son, Andreas, will serve a year and a day after his father is
released from prison. Bouraxis’ wife, Freida, will serve six
months of house arrest and three years of probation. Bouraxis’
son-in-law, Ray Awadallah, managed one of the family’s three
restaurants and was also sentenced to house arrest and probation
for cheating on his taxes.
Federal
officials say more than $3 million was skimmed from the
restaurants. The family operates Omega Burger in Milwaukee, Mad
Rooster in Milwaukee, El Fuego in Franklin and El Beso in
Greenfield. The family plans to turn the former Hardee’s, 130
N.W. Barstow St., Waukesha, into a Mad Rooster Café.
In
July, Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly told The Freeman the conviction
won’t play a role in the addition of Mad Rooster to the city.
“If
it impacts their plans, it would impact it from their end,”
Reilly said in July. “The city can’t not approve the building
because someone is convicted. (The Plan Commission) is looking at
the building and the business. Whether there’s a conviction or
not isn’t our area.”
On
Nov. 9, developer Berg Management and owner of the proposed Mad
Rooster Café received unanimous approval for its amended site
plan.
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