A former owner of the Melting Pot restaurant in Minneapolis has pleaded guilty to failing to pay more than $585,000 in taxes withheld from employee paychecks.
Kelly Louise Jaedike of Eagan and her brother David Ahern of Eau Claire, Wis., first were penalized by the IRS in 2006 for failing to pay employee taxes at the fondue franchise, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
“Instead of working to pay off the debt, Jaedike, Ahern and others worked to hide Jaedike’s income and assets to prevent the IRS from seizing them,” the attorney’s office said Tuesday.
The two failed to pay employment taxes again from 2009 to 2011, according to the attorney’s office, even though they and other family members had received more than $1.29 million in personal payments from the restaurant.
Jaedike, 46, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and attempt to evade tax Monday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul. Ahern pleaded guilty to conspiracy in October. Jaedike and Ahern are no longer involved in the restaurant.