Sarasota restaurant owner admits to IRS scheme, faces prison time

A co-owner of Boatyard Waterfront Bar and Grill pleaded guilty last week to failing to disclose income to the IRS as part of a scheme to avoid reporting cash sales at the Sarasota restaurant. The Boatyard is the colorful eatery on the Sarasota side of Stickney Point Bridge that leads to Siesta Key. 

Karl Knocker, whose age was not disclosed, pleaded guilty to three counts of three counts of failing to provide information to the IRS. He faces three years in prison and a $100,000 fine. A sentencing date has not been set.

The restaurant’s other owner, Madeline Nikolson, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States in May, according to federal court records online. She is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 1 and faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to the plea agreements in both cases and a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, starting as early as August 2013, the pair used their knowledge of the restaurant’s point of sale system to void and back out cash transactions, leaving only the records for payments made by credit cards. They also instructed at least one employee to back out the sales, according to the plea agreement.

By doing this, they were able to hide — and avoid paying taxes on — cash transactions for several years.

While the scheme began as early as August 2013, the plea covers the years 2016, 2017 and 2018. Over that three-year period, the pair failed to report $726,105 in income on the restaurant’s tax returns and on their personal returns.

Prosecutors in Knocker’s plea agreement say that over the three-year period he underpaid about $101,000 in federal income tax. Nikolson’s plea agreement reflect those same figures in her case.

The Boatyard is on 1500 Stickney Point Road on Little Sarasota Bay in Sarasota. A manager at the restaurant Monday said neither Knocker nor Nikolson were available. Neither returned a message.