Son sentenced in father and son tax fraud case

(WKBN) – The son of a father and son team out of Stark County who conspired to defraud the government out of millions of dollars was sentenced Tuesday in federal court.

Investigators say Christopher Karasarides conspired with his father, Christo Karasarides Jr. to conceal assets from the IRS.

The crimes happened between 2016 and 2022.

Christopher Karasarides was sentenced to one year in prison. He also has to pay $1.5 million in restitution and will be on probation for three years when he gets out of prison.

Investigators say that Christos Karasarides, who was convicted in January for related tax crimes, money laundering and running an illegal gambling operation in Canton, owed the IRS millions of dollars. His son hid $239,000 of his father’s cash in a safety deposit box, delivered false promissory notes and filed false tax returns, according to prosecutors.

Christo Karasarides is scheduled for sentencing on Wednesday along with his co-conspirator Ronald DiPietro who investigators say operated Skilled Shamrock and other criminal operations.

Patrons gambled more than $34 million at Skilled Shamrock between 2012 and 2017 with the owners retaining more than $7 million. Karasarides and DiPietro sought to conceal their ownership of the gambling businesses through the use of nominee owners, including Karasarides’ son, and sham contracts.

Karasarides and DiPietro used the proceeds of their schemes to purchase luxury vehicles, buy and sell property and take extravagant gambling trips. They also kept thousands and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash or silver at their homes and other properties they controlled, according to prosecutors.

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