Mystic Pizza Owners Surrender $60,000 To Feds

MYSTIC, Conn. — The U.S. Treasury Department has seized more than $60,000 from a bank account of the owners of the Mystic Pizza restaurant made famous in a 1988 movie starring Julia Roberts.

The Day of New London reports ( ) that federal authorities took the money from the account of John Zelepos, George Zelepos and Christos Zelepos in January after a criminal investigation by the Internal Revenue Service. IRS officials refused to disclose details of the investigation or why the money was seized. http://bit.ly/wKrjKf

The seizure was revealed this week in a legal notice published in the newspaper.

The Zelepos family owns Mystic Pizza in Mystic, Mystic Pizza II in North Stonington and the Mystic Pizza Food Co. No one answered the phones at the restaurants Thursday, and the owners didn't immediately return messages.

___

Information from: The Day, http://www.theday.com

Comments

[charlesa1946]

08:51 AM on 03/10/2012

$60,000. = $60,000,000. publicity, maybe more.

[Peter Burbank]

07:07 AM on 03/10/2012

Is it possible that both Chicago and New York Style Pizzan can be good, I can enjoy a Chicago Deep Dish thats really cheesy with a garlicy sauce, and I really enjoy a thin crispy crust .... I really like pizza!

[herp derpenstein]

12:06 AM on 03/11/2012

you must have that TMNT gene like i do

[KadyFox]

03:44 AM on 03/10/2012

YUCK! What is on that slice of pizza in the pic? It looks like runny egg yolks.

[kareemachan]

02:07 PM on 03/11/2012

Cheddar, maybe?

[KadyFox]

02:02 AM on 03/12/2012

Oh. Maybe. Sure looks runny tho. But yeah, I'd rather think it was cheddar than egg yolks! LOL

[onebluebrick]

10:48 PM on 03/09/2012

Well, I am sorry to hear it. I am sure it will not happen again, and that they can go on with their wonderful business and enjoy their lives.

[Gary James]

10:03 PM on 03/09/2012

Obama must have his share.

[sjh2082]

11:36 AM on 03/10/2012

I wonder what kind of pizza he eats? I know I like pizza and also must have my share as well. :)

[MiMi LLawsonn]

02:44 PM on 03/10/2012

Another term and my guess is we will all forking over a lot to Obama.....AMERICA can NOT survive another term of O....he needs to go.....vote him out of office....allow someone else to give it a try.....the Hope and Change....well, you know....turned into AGONY AND DEFEAT....really fast....I have noticed that O is not advertising it again....he failed and he knows he did...time for him to MOVE OUT....MOVE ON....

[kareemachan]

02:08 PM on 03/11/2012

Mi2, could you at least try to post about the article here instead of tro//ing?

Thanx.

[ezambrano3]

05:12 PM on 03/09/2012

Got caught with their hands in the dough.....
I know,I know..

[yahoo1234]

11:57 AM on 03/10/2012

Sorry to see such a comment, and I have been wondering how you would like to be judged so fast
with out a full length investigation compleat in it's entirety, this is only an investigation, and not even a compleat investigation at that. Sounds like you like to jump the gun with a lot of judgement.

[onemadashell]

08:31 PM on 03/10/2012

sorry to see such a comment. it appears you didn't like the joke that was made. maybe we should investigate you and see why you don't like jokes.

[herp derpenstein]

12:07 AM on 03/11/2012

complete* also your trying to hard

[TeeGeeCee]

03:12 PM on 03/09/2012

I live in Mystic, and can testify that their pizza is the worst in town. Pizzetta is better, but the best locally is the Recovery Room, a few towns over.

I do love the movie though.

[onebluebrick]

10:49 PM on 03/09/2012

Talk about kicking a guy when he is down------------.

[KadyFox]

03:38 AM on 03/10/2012

My grandparents took me to the seaport as a kid. I have vague recollections of being in a really long building that they said rope had been made in and some tall ships. I always wanted to go back there again.

[chiara0]

01:37 PM on 03/09/2012

I'm from Connecticut. Mystic is a sweet sailing town (or was) more or less for tourists, not a pizza parlor destination. Now some of the good ones are right there in New Haven.

[baxtron]

01:37 PM on 03/09/2012

what about the love women seek from men? did they factor that in?

[Professor Wagstaff]

01:19 PM on 03/09/2012

Jeez these small business guys never get it. You put the money in an OFFSHORE bank, like a Swiss bank, like Mitt Romney does.

[AL begood]

10:52 AM on 03/09/2012

yeah , huh , lesson never put that much money in bank, sounds like IRs is not trustworthy...buy gold .and hide it.. cause US is over 16 trillion dollars in debt they not gonna be able to pay it back either..and get this they use different accounting tricks so i heard where actually 75 trillion in debt..

[daigz]

01:15 PM on 03/09/2012

Why do you say that the IRS is not trustworthy? That's how I feel about people who skip out on paying taxes..

[AL begood]

01:57 PM on 03/09/2012

Ok , so how much money do yu get paid every month by the goovernment.. sum people dont rely on government for ther pay... were yu born too pay taxes on mismangement and overspending.. things out yur control..cause yur vote dont count...the problem now is government is controlled by special interest.. insurance, lawyers, corporations..

[gbrooks]

04:22 PM on 03/09/2012

If I could dictate where my tax money went, I'd have no issue with paying taxes. Since I have massive ethical issues with what our gov't does in their foreign policy and in domestic "wars," I have adjusted my life so I pay as little tax as possible.

Voting doesn't work. Contacting congress doesn't work. Switching from an R to a Doesn't work.

We are on a downward spiral, and I want as little to do with it as possible. Don't worry though, I only use gov't resources as a last resort.

[lastguitarstanding]

10:35 AM on 03/09/2012

are you ready......can you see it coming.......o.k here we go....."thats a lot of dough"

[B Socaratic]

11:13 AM on 03/09/2012

or cheddar

[Leond]

05:10 PM on 03/09/2012

You win.

[Professor Wagstaff]

01:18 PM on 03/09/2012

Yeah, the guy should have hid the money better. what a ....( are YOU ready?)...Dough - Dough!

I wonder if he said that Homer Simpson thing when it happened... ( hint: starts with a "D")

[yahoo1234]

01:12 PM on 03/10/2012

Homer Simpson, was lets say a man with a family and no house payment, he was smart enough to pay that off. And as far as your hint " D " This happens to be accurate information. I hardly see how this is conciderd Homer Simpson logic, when you base your responces on lack of proper information to begin with, and the wrong info as well, you may have an opinion, but it is still based on lack of proper info to start with. It appears as though you have need of info seeking to consider, and badly !!

[toyisfabulous]

10:24 AM on 03/09/2012

I'm from Connecticut, been to Mystic 100 times and I've never eaten there. It's a tourist trap.

[Annemarie Dooling]

12:30 PM on 03/09/2012

Agreed. I used to go to Mystic as a child to enjoy the quiet private beaches but went back as an adult and was shocked at what a tourist spot it's become.

[Todd Ecker]

08:58 AM on 03/09/2012

This doesn't surprise me. Many businesses do not pay their taxes.

[B Socaratic]

11:14 AM on 03/09/2012

many businesses are only set up for tax evasion purposes

[gbrooks]

04:23 PM on 03/09/2012

Same with non-profits.

[MyResponsibility]

05:33 PM on 03/11/2012

What's the logic in that claim? Perhaps some, but not many. Businesses are started to make money.

[starztruck4u]

10:30 AM on 03/10/2012

Many politicians don't pay their taxes.....Be in no doubt that is what Tim Geithner is. I'm not sure what is more amazing about this case: the virtually free pass he has been given by the media, the toothless opposition of the Republicans or the magnitude of Obama's first betrayal of his ideals.
In 2006 the Internal Revenue Service discovered that Geithner had not paid he had failed to pay taxes in 2003 and 2004 because he had incorrectly believed they were deducted at source by the IMF, where he had moved after serving the treasury in the Clinton administration. He duly paid about $17,230 in back taxes and interest.
After he was selected to lead the treasury in November, it was discovered as part of his vetting that he owed a further $25,970 for 2001 and 2002 as well. That was the point Obama should have dropped Geithner, instead he has championed him as the only man fit for this major job in dire times.

[Stephen Thorpe]

04:53 AM on 03/09/2012

If you are in a traffic stop, the police look in your car, find a briefcase filled with cash, they'll take it. Hold it. Make you see a judge over YOUR MONEY.

I know people that don't like to put their money in a bank. They buy things with cash. That's a no no today. We're supposed to have a bank hold our money. Let us have access to our money.

[gbrooks]

07:00 AM on 03/09/2012

The IRS can take money out of your bank account too.

I'm mostly a cash person, but I know the risks--if I get "caught" with too much, they'll take it and claim that I'm a drug dealer. And considering that the gov't has access to all my bank records and can use it against me, I'll stick with cash, even though I'm not doing anything wrong.

[O K Ali]

09:45 AM on 03/09/2012

Before debit cards were the norm, I went on a road trip with $3500 in cash. I asked the bank manager to write me a notarized statement that I withdrew the money out of his branch. He did it for me because I told him I was traveling to Louisiana. Never got stopped by police, but I saw stories about police confiscating vehicles of people with out of state plates and large amounts of cash and was hedging my bets.

[Sprinks678]

10:43 PM on 03/09/2012

If you pay your taxes you don't have to worry about any of this.