Massachusetts Chicken Eatery Owner Sentenced for Fraud

A New York man who had an ownership stake in 11 fried chicken restaurants in the Boston, Mass., area has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for tax, insurance and immigration fraud.

Federal prosecutors say 58-year-old Hazrat Khalid Khan, a Pakistani national who lives in Middletown, New York, was also sentenced Thursday to a year of probation and will be subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence. He was ordered to pay more than $2.3 million to the IRS and nearly $28,000 to two insurance companies he defrauded.

Khan pleaded guilty in April.

Authorities say he and accomplices lied to the IRS about the number of employees by not including those in the U.S. illegally, paid workers in cash, and falsely reported sales and income to avoid payroll and income taxes.