Brownstone Inn

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EX-RESTAURATEUR ADMITS BANK SCHEMEHAD BUSINESSES IN WYCKOFF, ALLENDALEA former Bergen County restaurateur agreed to forfeit more than $200,000 to the government and admitted that he had evaded currency reporting requirements by depositing more than $650,000 into a dozen bank accounts in amounts under $10,000. Aziz Kastrati, 55, of Wyckoff pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court in Newark to a single count of "structuring" deposits totaling more than $655,665 between January 2006 and December 2009 into accounts he held at four banks. Kastrati admitted that the cash deposits were made in amounts below $10,000, the threshold at which banks are required to file currency transaction reports with the Treasury Department. As part of a plea deal, Kastrati agreed to forfeit $201,109 to the United States. Kastrati previously forfeited $454,556 to the government in a civil case filed in 2009 after Internal Revenue Service agents seized that amount from five bank accounts in which structuring was suspected. At that time, court papers said, Kastrati and his wife owned two restaurants, the Brownstone Inn Bar & Grill in Wyckoff and Pastafino Restaurant in Allendale. Both were shuttered about two years later. U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty accepted Kastrati's guilty plea and set sentencing for July 17. Kastrati faces up to 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. He was released on $250,000 bond.