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Convicted tax cheat Samina Azhar had nothing to say after her most recent conviction today. It's the latest in a string of guilty pleas that have let the failed businesswoman avoid jail. The owner of several now closed Hampton Roads Burger Kings plead "no contest," to a pair of misdemeanors for failing to pay food tax.
The business owner, accused of ripping off employees and two cities, will not go to jail.
A former employee says she got off easy compared to the workers she hurt.
Monica Whitney was the first whistleblower. She worked as an assistant store manager for one of the Azhars' burger kings. She called NewsChannel 3 when her paycheck bounced and her bosses refused to pay.
The bounced checks were the first sign of a crumbling empire and the start of a NewsChannel 3 investigation. In courthouses across Hampton Roads, and today in Isle of Wight, Samina Azhar struck deals. Today, she avoided felonies and jail time by promising to pay back the food taxes. For Monica, that's not enough.
In Isle of Wight, Samina Azhar will have to pay 500 dollars a month to the towns of Smithfield and Windsor until she pays back the food-tax debt. It's a similar deal to what she struck in other courts.
But none of this does anything for the former workers, who lost wages, found out they didn't have insurance and couldn't collect unemployment because the Azhars kept all that money.
The business owner, accused of ripping off employees and two cities, will not go to jail.
A former employee says she got off easy compared to the workers she hurt.
Monica Whitney was the first whistleblower. She worked as an assistant store manager for one of the Azhars' burger kings. She called NewsChannel 3 when her paycheck bounced and her bosses refused to pay.
The bounced checks were the first sign of a crumbling empire and the start of a NewsChannel 3 investigation. In courthouses across Hampton Roads, and today in Isle of Wight, Samina Azhar struck deals. Today, she avoided felonies and jail time by promising to pay back the food taxes. For Monica, that's not enough.
In Isle of Wight, Samina Azhar will have to pay 500 dollars a month to the towns of Smithfield and Windsor until she pays back the food-tax debt. It's a similar deal to what she struck in other courts.
But none of this does anything for the former workers, who lost wages, found out they didn't have insurance and couldn't collect unemployment because the Azhars kept all that money.
