Former Ambler restaurant owner admits to bilking federal government of nearly $1M in Covid relief funds

One week after being indicted on federal wire fraud charges, a Montgomery Township woman who formerly owned Ristorante San Marco Italian restaurant and piano bar in Ambler has admitted to bilking the government out of nearly $1 million in Covid relief funds and faces up to 60 years in prison.

Giuseppina “Josephine” Leone, 61, pleaded guilty Thursday, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, to three charges of federal wire fraud, admitting she falsified emergency financial assistance documents related to the Paycheck Protection Program and a separate Restaurant Revitalization Fund.

Leone would need to repay $957,196 she stole from the feds, plus a $750,000 fine, according to the report. She faces 20 years in prison per charge. A sentencing date has been set for Sept. 5.

Leone confessed to keeping her business closed during the pandemic and striking a deal to sell her restaurant for $1.575 million before 2020, according to the article.

The Leones sold their restaurant property on Oct. 20, 2019, where they listed themselves as sellers and a third party as a buyer.

Around March 18, 2020, Josephine Leone posted a Facebook announcement informing the public that the Italian restaurant was closing temporarily due to the pandemic.

Leone submitted a fraudulent PPP application for $138,000, even though the restaurant was not in operation. She stated in the application that the restaurant had 17 employees and needed the loan for payroll and operating expenses. Eventually, the Leones got the $138,000 and the loan was forgiven, due to further misrepresentations.

Then, in May 2021, Leone defrauded the Restaurant Revitalization Fund of $699,196, claiming that the restaurant was in operation and the money was needed to pay employees.

 After they received that money, the Leones closed on the sale of the restaurant in June 2021.

All in all, the Inquirer said, Leone applied for government funds three times in 14 months and then used the money on investments, credit card bills, and the like.

Leone is one of dozens of defendants in the Philadelphia area that bilked the program out of millions, per The Inquirer. It is estimated that more than $64 billion issued through the PPP program went to people who either were not eligible for it or who used it for other intentions.

The upscale Italian restaurant Tresini now operates at the former Ristorante San Marco location.