One of the lawsuits sheds some light on the split: Manero’s ex-partners claim he was stealing from the restaurants to support his lifestyle, decorate his home and open competing restaurants. The estimated loss is around $1 million, according to Goldberg.
The Palm Beach County Circuit Court lawsuit says Manero, whose real name is Mainiero, turned over ownership of Vic & Angelo’s and The Office to Rosatti in 2010 after he had trouble repaying loans to open the now-closed DeVito’s in Miami Beach, plus loans to build the other restaurants.
Goldberg said the loans totaled between $10 million and $20 million. “Did (the restaurants) return the amount of money David told John they would? No. Did they cost more to build than David told John it would? Yes,” Goldberg said.
Nonetheless, Mainiero remained manager of the restaurants.
The lawsuit alleges that beginning in 2010, Mainiero, and wife, Lynn, started diverting money to themselves from vendors who served the restaurants. For instance, the lawsuit claims between December 2010 and March 2011, Southern Wine & Spirits paid $73,500 to a Mainiero entity, instead of the restaurants.
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