A very high-profile restaurateur who has faced other issues with certain locations has been arrested on a felony larceny charge connected to allegations about bad checks, records show.
Gjinovefa Luari, 33, also known as Gina Luari, is charged with second-degree larceny and issuing a bad check, according to an arrest warrant affidavit submitted by the East Hartford Police Department.
Luari is the owner of multiple restaurants in Connecticut, including three The Place 2 Be restaurants: the one in Blue Back Square, another in downtown Hartford and third in New Haven, as well as a bakery in Hartford.
She is free on $10,000 bail, state records show. Justin Freeman, her attorney for this matter, did not have an immediate comment. Luari did not respond to two texts seeking comment.
The criminal case investigation against Luari, according to an affidavit by East Hartford Officer Jamel Brown, began July 17, when the officer met with the manager of the Restaurant Equipment Paradise, of East Hartford, who alleged Luari, a regular customer, issued two checks to Restaurant Equipment Paradise, one for $2,620.46, the other for $8,201.20, but “the bank informed him the accounts to the checks were closed,” the warrant affidavit says.
The manager alleged to Brown “this is approximately the fifth time this has occurred with Gina writing out a bad check and not having the money,” the warrant affidavit says.
The manager told Brown that when Luari “is informed she will typically pay it back a couple weeks later” and that he reached out to her on June 18 to tell her the checks were insufficient, she replied “I didn’t realize the error until afterward, you will be receiving a bank check for the total amount of those checks I just haven’t had a minute to grab it with everything going around this bakery launch,” the warrant affidavit says.
Brown spoke to Luari on July 27 and she “stated she is aware of the situation. Gina stated she was going to pay back restaurant the money owed and she did not realize the bank account was closed. Gina stated she has done business with Restaurant Equipment Paradise for years and over the time she has paid back whatever she owed,” the warrant affidavit says.
Brown wrote that Luari stated “miscommunication began” when the manager of the Restaurant Equipment Paradise “got involved instead of the owner…”Gina stated (the manager) was not understanding.”
Luari told Brown that “when the miscommunication occurred she felt it was in her best interest to have her lawyers involved” and that “she was waiting for her credit from Blue Back Square to deposit in order to pay the remaining balance she owned with Restaurant Equipment Paradise,” the warrant affidavit says.
Luria “stated the judge has set a status conference in 30 days in order to settle the payment and whatever outstanding balance is needed to pay off. Gina was able to provide me screen shots of emails with the civil parties involved,” the warrant affidavit says, but does not indicate which civil case she was referring to.
Brown wrote that he gained further information on August 20, learning that Luari owned “multiple locations” of The Place 2B restaurant.
Luari “informed officers she was awaiting her credit from Blue Back Square to pay back Restaurant Equipment Paradise. It was also revealed Blue Back Square’s location credit allegedly had nothing to do with Restaurant Equipment Paradise,” the warrant affidavit says.
Brown said he met with the Restaurant Equipment Paradise manager on August 20, and the manager completed a “bad check information report packet” and provided a written statement.
The manager told Brown that the bank informed him the accounts were closed and he and others “have tried to make numerous notifications in regards to Gina needing to make the payment outside of the email sent on June 18,” the warrant affidavit says.
The manager told Brown “he wants charges pressed against Gina because it has been over 2 months and he still has not been paid back for the various pieces of equipment that was retrieved by Luari,” the warrant affidavit says.
Last month, Luari’s West Hartford restaurant that had had what health officials termed a “severe cockroach infestation” has been cleared to reopen, but could not right away because the state said it did not at the time have a valid sales tax license.
West Hartford Bloomfield Health District suspended the food license of The Place 2 Be on July 1 due to what it confirmed was a “severe cockroach infestation.”
The restaurant owner corrected the violations and could reopen, according to Aimee Krauss, director of health at the West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District.
“I can confirm that this (West Hartford) location does not have a valid sales tax license,” Tiffany V. Thiele, spokesperson for the state Department of Revenue Services said last month.
Thiele said at that time, the department could not “disclose any further taxpayer information. She later confirmed that the downtown Hartford location also did not at that time have a valid sales tax license.