Monday, December 2, 2024
The owners of a Mediterranean restaurant in West Hempstead were charged with allegedly underpaying their employees by more than $60,000 from September 2023 to April 2024 and failing to contribute to the New York State Unemployment Insurance program, according to Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.
Mahmut Unver co-owner of Red Lions Food Corp., was arraigned on Nov. 13 before Judge Geoffrey Prime on charges of grand larceny, scheme to defraud, failure to pay wages when due under labor law, and willful failure to pay contributions.
He pleaded not guilty and is due back in court on Jan. 6.
The other co-owner, John Yilmaz, was also arraigned before Prime on the same charges.
He pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. He is due back in court on Dec. 13.
The prosecution of the defendants is the first under the amended grand larceny statute in Nassau County, which includes “compensation for labor services” in the definition of property. The amendment, which was signed into law in September of last year, strengthens criminal penalties for wage theft by allowing prosecutors to combine wage underpayments or improper wage payments for an entire workforce into a single grand larceny charge.
“My office does not tolerate the exploitation of hard-working employees,” Donnelly said in a news release. “By allegedly underpaying their restaurant workers by more than $60,000 in the span of seven months, Mahmut Unver and John Yilmaz not only violated the law, but they undermined the dignity and value of those who helped build their business. The amended grand larceny statute in the State of New York, which now considers wage theft a form of larceny, reinforces our commitment to holding employers accountable and ensuring justice for employees who are deprived of the wages they rightfully deserve.”
Donnelly said that, according to the charges, the defendants allegedly underpaid nine former employees of the Anatolia Mediterranean & Grill, at 183 Hempstead Ave. in West Hempstead, between on or about Sept. 6, 2023, and April 31, 2024.
Two former employees, a delivery driver and a food preparer, were allegedly underpaid by more than $10,000 and $11,000, respectively. The seven other employees’ underpayments range from $1,696 to $9,936.
In addition to the alleged wage underpayments, records obtained from the New York State Department of Labor’s Unemployment Insurance Division show that Red Lions Food Corp. allegedly failed to pay its unemployment insurance contributions since September 2022.
According to the latest collection notice dated June 21, 2024, the business had allegedly underpaid its unemployment insurance contributions by $13,989.11.
Unver and Red Lions Food Corp. are represented by Mitchell Elman. Yilmaz is represented by Stacy Albin-Leone.
If convicted, the Unver and Yilmaz could face up to five to 15 years in prison.
