Staten Island Soup Nazi arrested for tax evasion

May 23, 2017 By Paul Frangipane Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The real life Soup Nazi, Robert Bertrand was arraigned at Brooklyn Federal Court Tuesday for tax evasion. Eagle photo by Paul Frangipane

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The top executive of a soup restaurant in Staten Island who has licenses to the name and recipes of the popular “Soup Nazi” from the cult classic TV series “Seinfeld” was arraigned and pled not guilty Tuesday to tax evasion, allegedly owing more than half a million dollars to the federal government.

While the Soup Nazi would ruin a customer’s day by denying hot delicious soup in the show, Robert Bertrand, 62, ruined the government’s by allegedly withholding around $593,971 to the federal government.

A 20-count indictment revealed on Tuesday that between 2010 and 2014, the soup slinger allegedly failed to pay Medicare, Social Security and federal income taxes for his employees, while paying them about $2,850,967.59 in unreported cash payments and stock awards.

He was arraigned at Brooklyn Federal Court in front of Magistrate Judge Marilyn D. Go, where she instituted a $50,000 bail to be cosigned by Bertrand’s daughter.

Bertrand, the Chief Financial Officer of Soupman Inc. of Staten Island, licenses the name and recipes of Al Yeganeh, the real Soup Nazi of the popular series “Seinfeld.” The executive now faces a maximum of five years in prison.

Bertrand was represented temporarily by Michael Weil of the Federal Defenders, a court appointed lawyer, but Go suggested that he will most likely exceed the amount of income for a public defender and change attorneys.

“He obviously has had a successful career,” Go said about his finances.

In 2012, Bertrand, of Norwalk, Connecticut, got a warning from an independent auditor to report his cash payments to the Internal Revenue Service, but Bertrand did not.

Bertrand refused to comment.