Boston diner owner charged with evading $60,000 in taxes

BOSTON (AP) - The owner of a landmark diner in Boston has been charged with cheating the state out of $60,000 in taxes on breakfast orders.

Fifty-eight-year-old Lynn resident Donna Marquardo, owner of Donna’s Restaurant in East Boston, was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday. The Boston Herald reports that the case was pushed to April 18 after the judge disclosed he had a familial connection to Marquardo and recused himself.

Neither Marquardo nor her attorney could be reached for comment. Staff at the restaurant declined to comment.

A spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley says Marquardo is charged with assessing a meal tax on $861,000 in sales and not reporting the tax for an alleged savings of $60,000.