As AroundAmbler.com reported on May 18th, the owner of a long-running restaurant in Ambler (Lower Gwynedd Township), Giuseppina “Josephine” Leone, was federally indicted with three counts of wire fraud for making false representations in documents relating to the Paycheck Protection Program (or PPP) and Restaurant Revitalization Fund (or RRF) program, which offered emergency financial assistance to business owners impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Leone owned and operated Ristorante San Marco restaurant at 504 North Bethlehem Pike between 1998 and 2020. The indictments claimed that Leone agreed to sell the restaurant before seeking the funding available to businesses through the COVID-19 relief programs.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on May 23rd that Leone has pleaded guilty to the charges. From the article:

The 61-year-old former restaurateur, known as Josephine to regular customers, pleaded guilty Thursday to federal fraud charges tied to nearly $1 million she obtained from government-backed coronavirus relief funds aimed at helping struggling restaurants stay afloat.

According to the article, each count of wire fraud could result in a 20-year sentence in federal prison. She is to be sentenced in September. You can read the full article here.