ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The owner of an Ann Arbor bar that was featured on the popular show "Bar Rescue" has been sentenced to prison time for failing to pay sales tax for 10 years.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said Brian Michael Flore, 43, of Brighton, was sentenced to 2 to 5 years in prison and ordered to pay $1,508,214 in restitution for collecting more than $700,000 in sales tax from customers at his bar, “The Arena,” and pocketing it.
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An investigation into Flore's business was launched in 2013 by the Department of the Treasury. An auditor determined that the bar was purchasing liquor that was sold to the public and that Flore charged his customers sales tax but failed to pay any of it to the state, Schuette said. Flore confirmed that he had not paid sales taxes to the state and a request was made for the attorney general’s office to open the case after Flore failed to cooperate further.
The attorney general's office began an investigation, and an auditor determined that the bar made over $9 million in taxable sales, which resulted in over $700,000 in back taxes. A 100 percent fraud penalty and interest were added, leading to the current restitution amount.
Flore was charged with 120 counts of failure to file taxes, one count for each month over the 10-year period that he failed to pay.
Flore originally pleaded guilty last July. His sentence on the first five charges was held in abeyance, while he was given an 11-month delayed sentence in order to pay toward his past due and pay his current sales tax obligations. Flore did not complete the delayed sentencing requirements, leading to the sentence that was handed down Wednesday. He was sentenced to 2 to 5 years in prison on each of the 120 counts, which will be served concurrently.
