‘You’re not a cop, right?’: Sting reveals Fenway pizza parlor owner allegedly skipped more than $520K in taxes over 5 years

A Belmont man and local business owner has been charged for allegedly aiding the filing of false tax returns.  

Demetrios Pseudoikonomou, 55, was charged with eight counts of aiding the filing of false tax returns in Worcester Federal Court on Wednesday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

From 2018 to 2023, Pseudoikonomou allegedly deliberately failed to report more than $1.6 million in gross receipts and rental income from the restaurant — Cappy’s Pizza and Subs in Fenway — and apartment building he operated in Boston. He subsequently avoided paying more than $520,000 in federal income taxes, officials said. 

Pseudoikonomou first spoke to the undercover agent in January 2022, the same month he listed Cappy’s for sale, according to court documents. Pseudoikonomou allegedly told the undercover agent, who was posing as a prospective buyer for the business, that he routinely underreported his gross receipts and rental income, according to the attorney’s office. 

He allegedly said that his accountant “reports what I tell him…. You’re gonna see on my returns that not everything’s there.” In another meeting, Pseudoikonomou allegedly said, “You’re not a wearing a wire, right?  You’re not a cop, right?,” officials said.

The charge of aiding the filing of false tax returns provides a sentence of up to three years in prison, up to one year of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. 

Pseudoikonomou’s lawyer, Jeffrey M. Miller, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday evening. 

Pseudoikonomou was released from custody on Wednesday on the condition that he submit to a DNA test. He is set to reappear in court for an initial status conference on Sept. 23, according to court documents.