Ambler Restaurant Owner Sentenced To Prison For Pandemic Fraud: Feds

AMBLER, PA — A North Wales woman and owner of a popular restaurant in Ambler has been sentenced for prison after being convicted in a pandemic relief funds fraud scheme, federal officials announced.

Giuseppina "Josephine” Leone, 62, had pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud earlier this year. Leone and her husband owned the former Ristorante San Marco, located on 504 N. Bethlehem Pike in Ambler.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Gerald A. McHugh sentenced Leone to 21 months in prison and one year of probation.

She had faced a maximum of up to 20 years behind bars.

“Covid relief programs were meant to provide emergency aid to businesses and employees financially flattened by the pandemic,” U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero said in a statement. “My office and our partners won’t stand for opportunists like Mrs. Leone thinking they can defraud the federal government, pocket taxpayers’ money, and get away with it."

Ristorante San Marco shut down on March 18, 2020 as the pandemic began and never reopened.

In April 2020, Leone applied for paycheck protection program (PPP) loans of $138,000 and $120,000 for assistance with payroll and other operating expenses, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. She claimed that the restaurant had 17 employees.

However, Leone had no intention of ever reopening, authorities said, as the property had already been sold for $1.5 million back in Oct. 2019. Leone received both loans she requested and kept the money for herself, authorities said.

She later abused another COVID relief program, the restaurant revitalization program, this time requesting $699,196 for "restaurant operations," authorities said.

The sale of the restaurant was finalized in June 2021, without a cent of relief funds ever being spent on employee wages or restaurant upkeep, according to officials.

Leone must also pay a $50,000 fine and a $300 special assessment, the judge ruled.