Former owner of Max's Steaks charged with tax fraud
Charles Weiner, 79, of Penn Valley, was indicted in September for allegedly committing tax fraud related to his businesses.
The former owner of Max’s Steaks, the popular North Philly sandwich shop featured in the first two Creed movies, has been federally indicted on tax fraud charges, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Charles Weiner, 79, of Penn Valley, owned Max’s Steaks & Eagle Bar, and Clock Bar, both located at the intersection of Germantown and Erie Avenues.
Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board records show a license transfer application for Max’s Steaks & Eagle Bar from corporations controlled by Weiner to veteran restaurateur Rob LaScala, the Inquirer reported earlier this year.
Weiner was charged by indictment with one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, 22 counts of willfully failing to withhold and pay employment taxes, and six counts of aiding and assisting the filing of false tax returns.
The indictment was filed Sept. 17, court records show.
Fortunato N. Perri Jr., the attorney representing Weiner, declined Thursday to comment on the case.
Prosecutors said Weiner controlled all financial matters related to his businesses, and from early 2019 through early 2023, Weiner and two others working at his direction paid his employees all or partly in cash and then provided false information about those payments to the accountant who filed his tax returns.
Weiner also allegedly supplied the accountant with false information about the food and drink supplies purchased for the businesses. Prosecutors said that resulted in false corporate tax returns.
The Weiner prosecution was part of national tax-enforcement surge by the U.S. Department of Justice, said David Metcalf, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Max’s Steaks has been a popular cheesesteak shop with locals for several decades, but its fame surged when it was featured in Creed, the 2015 sequel to the Rocky movies. Max’s Steaks also appeared in Creed II.
In 2017, the city celebrated Kevin Hart Day at Max’s, where a portrait of the comic actor was painted on the building.
