STAPLETON — A former Staten Island resident has been accused of embezzling nearly $2.5 million from a well-known celebrity restaurant located in Midtown Manhattan, as alleged by prosecutors. The individual, Lori Jakubowski, aged 55, stands accused of laundering money after reportedly using embezzled funds to purchase a home in Pennsylvania.
The restaurant in question, Fresco by Scotto, is co-owned by Rosanna Scotto, the popular anchor of Fox 5’s Good Day New York, along with her children, Jenn and LJ Ruggiero. Jakubowski, currently residing in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was arraigned in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court on a four-count indictment.
According to legal documents, the alleged theft took place over the course of approximately seven years, starting in 2016. Prosecutors assert that Jakubowski devised multiple schemes to misappropriate a total of $2,485,779.79 from the restaurant. The schemes included pocketing cash from both sales and tips received by the eatery, as well as transferring money to herself directly from the restaurant’s bank account under the guise of legitimate transactions. The alleged unauthorized actions were reportedly concealed with false entries into the restaurant’s QuickBooks financial ledger.
Additionally, the defendant is accused of depositing checks written to the restaurant into her personal bank accounts and even using the restaurant’s funds to pay her husband’s cable bill. There are allegations that Jakubowski inflated her income by issuing paychecks to herself, falsely characterized as vacation pay.
In what prosecutors describe as a significant act of money laundering, Jakubowski is alleged to have funneled at least $100,000 of the stolen funds toward the purchase of a $164,500 home in Pennsylvania. Notably, she allegedly made the payments utilizing 88 separate checks and money orders as recently as April 2023.
The charges she faces include grand larceny in the first degree, money laundering in the second degree, and two counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Despite the serious nature of the allegations, Jakubowski has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has been released under non-monetary conditions. She is expected to make her next court appearance on February 24.
As of now, an attorney representing Jakubowski has not commented on the matter, and further updates are awaited following the developments in court.
