IRS after ALMS team owner

Cadillac Ranch has re-opened after a team of IRS investigators took over the restaurant for the afternoon to sift through boxes full of corporate paperwork.

The search warrant used to take evidence from the downtown restaurant was one of several obtained by the IRS, said Fred Alverson, spokesman for U.S. Attorney Carter Stewart.

When asked what other locations were searched, Alverson said one was the corporate headquarters of Cadillac Ranch Group in Dublin, Ohio.

IRS officials would not disclose the nature of their investigation. But the IRS typically investigates allegations of income tax fraud, employment tax fraud and money laundering.

A federal judge has ordered the case to be sealed from the public, said Craig Casserly, public information officer at IRS offices in Columbus, Ohio.

According to its web site, Cadillac Ranch Group operates a chain of about a dozen restaurants around the country. One of those restaurants, a 23,000-square-foot venue in Reno, closed earlier this week. A suburban Indianapolis venue is scheduled to open in coming weeks.

The group set up an LLC for the Cincinnati restaurant before opening in 2007, calling it Cincinnati F.S. LLC. The group representative on Ohio Secretary of State business filings is a man named Eric Schilder. But published reports name the company’s owners as brothers Jon and Joel Field.

A background search on the two men shows a history of federal and state tax liens, dating back as far as 1993. They previously operated a chain called Banana Joe’s Island Bar and Grill, with a location on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine. Jon Field also owns a high profile auto racing team called Intersport Racing, which, according to its web site, was a founding member of the American Le Mans Series. Cincinnati.com