Generous To Hoboes But “Stingy” With Government
NEW YORK, March 2. A Brooklyn bar owner noted for spreading Christmas cheer to Bowery hoboes in the form of 20dollar bills pleaded guilty today to Federal income tax evasion. The bar owner, Joseph Bonavita, 51, handed out so much money on Christmas Eve in 1946, that he was committed to Bellvue Hospital for observation. He gave away an estimated 3500 dollars that night. Bonavita was later declared sane, and continued his yearly trips to the Bowery to distribute money. Federal testimony at today’s Court hearing showed that Bonavita had failed to report nearly 78,000 dollars he had made in the stock market between 1952 and 1955.
Judge Leo Rayfield asked why the generous tavernkeeper was so stingy with the Government. Bonavita replied that he did not list his profits for tax returns because he was afraid his wife would find out he had been “playing the market.” The Judge stood the case down to March 19 for sentence. Bonavita could get up to 20 years in gaol, and 40,000 dollars in fines.
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Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28835, 4 March 1959, Page 13
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180Generous To Hoboes But “Stingy” With Government Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28835, 4 March 1959, Page 13
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