WPB Crime Shocker: Restaurant Owner and Brother Arrested Within 24 Hours

In a surprising turn of events, just one day after the arrest of a popular restaurant owner from Juno Beach for failing to pay sales taxes, his sister was also taken into custody on similar charges.

By Sheenu Gupta On Jan 17, 2025 Share with new partner:

Just one day after the arrest of a well-known Juno Beach restaurant owner on charges of failing to pay sales tax, his sister was also taken into custody under strikingly similar circumstances. She now faces accusations of neglecting sales tax payments linked to a separate dining establishment. The back-to-back arrests have drawn significant attention, raising concerns about financial practices within the family’s restaurant businesses. Authorities are continuing to investigate both cases to determine the extent of the alleged tax violations.

The state Department of Revenue has charged Nadia Baldasaro with failing to remit more than $100,000 in sales taxes over a four-year period. This alleged tax delinquency began in June 2020, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when many businesses faced significant financial challenges. According to authorities, the failure to pay sales taxes continued sporadically through March of the previous year. Investigators claim the unpaid taxes accumulated over multiple instances, prompting legal action as they work to recover the owed funds and ensure compliance with state tax laws.

Nadia Baldasaro, 45, is accused of failing to remit sales taxes for Eatalia, an Italian restaurant located on Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach, according to the probable cause affidavit. Over the course of the investigation, it was revealed that the restaurant collected nearly $250,000 in sales tax, but Baldasaro allegedly transferred less than $119,000 of that amount to the state.

When questioned by a Department of Revenue investigator, Baldasaro reportedly acknowledged that she was aware the tax payments were overdue. She further stated that she had been in communication with the department in an attempt to resolve the outstanding balance, though no formal agreement was ever reached to settle the debt.

The amount that Nadia Baldasaro is accused of owing—$127,870.44—appears to closely align with the amount her brother, Massimo Giovannangelo, allegedly underpaid the state on behalf of his restaurant, County Line Italian Ristorante and Pizzeria. According to the Revenue Department, Giovannangelo failed to remit $122,999.10 in sales tax. The similarity in the amounts owed by both siblings has drawn attention, as it suggests a possible pattern of tax-related issues within the family’s restaurant businesses.

In her interview with state investigators, Nadia Baldasaro also discussed her brother Massimo Giovannangelo’s case, as revealed by the probable cause affidavit against him. When questioned about County Line Italian Ristorante and Pizzeria, she stated that her brother was the sole person responsible for managing the restaurant and that she believed his business was handling the collection of sales taxes. However, she admitted that she was unaware whether he had actually remitted the collected taxes to the state, according to the affidavit. Following the investigation, Baldasaro was arrested and booked into the Palm Beach County jail on a felony charge of theft of state funds.