The owner of Portland restaurant Susan’s Fish-n-Chips has agreed to repay more than $200,000 to the state for uncollected or underreported sales taxes.

The Maine Attorney General’s Office said Friday that Susan Eklund pleaded guilty last month to 12 misdemeanor counts of failing to collect, account for or pay sales taxes from her Forest Avenue restaurant.

Eklund and the state entered into a deferred disposition agreement after she entered her guilty plea. State officials said if Eklund pays her sales and income taxes and makes regular payments on restitution of $205,506.87 over the next 18 months, she will get a suspended sentence of 364 days and a year of administrative release, meaning she has to pay all fines she owes and may be sentenced to other punishment, such as community service.

The resolution of Eklund’s case was one of 14 announced Friday by Attorney General Aaron Frey, who said the cases illustrate that his office has continued to prosecute tax evaders during the coronavirus pandemic.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge for all Mainers,” Frey said in a statement. “My office has taken into account the hardships that Mainers have been experiencing, but we all must do our part to comply with the tax and criminal laws of our state, particularly since taxes fund the essential services we rely on.”


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