Fails to pay $3 million in taxes.
Bureau Report
NEW YORK: Tailor-to-the-stars Mohan “Mike” Ramchandani – who has outfitted New York City Mayors Rudy Giuliani, Ed Koch and Knick legends Walt Frazier and Patrick Ewing — was hauled in handcuffs into a Manhattan courtroom for failing to pay nearly $3 million in sales, personal and corporate taxes.
Ramchandani’s self-described “mistakes” will eventually put him in an off-the-rack correctional jumpsuit for one to three years, reported the New York Post. His sentencing was set for September 18.
“I made several mistakes with regard to the payment of taxes and I take full responsibility for my actions,” the tax-tinkering tailor said in a written statement handed to reporters by his publicist, who accompanied him to court.
Since 2007, Ramchandani failed to pay $1.7 million in sales tax, $864,000 in corporate income tax, and $250,000 in personal income tax, according to the charges brought against him by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
Ramchandani came to court in a custom-tailored, three-piece, dark navy suit, with a diagonally striped blue, red, chartreuse and gold tie and a pale lavender shirt, distinguishing himself in a crowd of rumpled hoodies and sweats, reported Post.
He pleaded guilty to felony filing of false tax documents and falsifying business records. Factoring in penalties and interest, his total tax bill is $5.5 million, authorities said. He has so far paid back $750,000, and has agreed to pay the balance within 24 months, said his lawyer, James Druker.
Ramchandani, whose Mohan’s Custom Tailors is across from Grand Central Terminal on East 42nd Street, additionally faces related federal charges for failing to pay federal income tax, authorities said.
“Every man needs 15 suits — some solid, some stripes and one plaid,” Ramchandani once told a Post reporter.
According to a New York Times profile of him from ’93, after a call from Ewing’s mother, Ramchandani made him a $250 gray herringbone suit, back when he was dominating the Big East. It was his first time fitting an oversize athlete’s frame; and when Ewing moved to the Garden, a short distance from his shop, he received a big endorsement in the sports market, reported Esquire.
Then, Clyde followed. “I used to see Mike advertising Ewing and Mark Jackson,” Frazier told the Times, “so I went over there a couple of years ago, and I said: ‘Hey, man, I’m the dress guy. What are you doing with these guys? I’m the Clyde.’ ”
Investigators poring through his tax records noticed an odd (or, rather, even) trend: the digits of the store’s reported sales figures always added up to multiples of 10. So for one quarter, Ramchandani claimed to owe sales taxes of $13,484, the individual digits of which add up to 20. The man with the measuring tape around his neck, it turns out, believes in numerology, reported the Times.