Owners of Darbar India Grill restaurants charged with tax crimes

A pair of Twin Cities Indian restaurants are at the center of a tax evasion case involving more than a quarter of a million dollars.

Darbar India Grill has two locations — one in Minneapolis and another in Apple Valley. Criminal charges have been filed against both restaurants as well as their owners.

According to a release from the Minnesota Department of Revenue, Lakhvir Singh Padda, of Medina, and Baljit Singh, of Eagan, "knowingly underreported sales tax collections for both restaurants to their accountant for the filing of their monthly sales tax returns" for a period of five years ending in July 2019.

At the Minneapolis location, the state says, investigators found that "thousands of sales transactions" had been deleted from the restaurant's point-of-sale system, and noticed an "unusually low percentage of cash sales in the system."

The charges say that this indicates an effort to "reduce sales tax obligations," the release notes. 

The state is alleging that both restaurants evaded paying more than $280,000 in sales tax. 

Padda is charged with 55 felony counts of aiding in the filing of false or fraudulent sales tax returns, while Singh is charged with 10 counts of same. 

There are 93 felony counts between the two restaurants as well. 

It's not clear whether these legal issues will have any effect on their operating hours; BringMeTheNews has reached out to Darbar for clarification.