U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Owner of Boston Pizzeria Chain Charged With Defrauding U.S. Small Business Administration (USAO D-MA 04/10/2024) (2024-04-17)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts, dated April 10, 2024, announcing that Stavros Papantoniadis, 49, of Westwood, owner of the Stash's Pizza chain, was indicted on two counts of wire fraud. It alleges that between November 2021 and January 2022 Papantoniadis applied for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan while falsely representing that he still owned and operated Boston Pizza Company in Randolph with 18 employees, a business he had allegedly sold months earlier. The SBA approved the loan and sent Papantoniadis $499,900. The release states that Papantoniadis was arrested in March 2023 on a forced labor charge, was later indicted on four counts of forced labor and three counts of attempted forced labor, and has remained in federal custody.

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PRESS RELEASE



Owner of Boston Pizzeria Chain
Charged With Defrauding U.S.
Small Business Administration
Wednesday, April 10, 2024

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts

BOSTON – The owner of Stash’s Pizza, who is currently facing alleged federal forced
labor charges, has been indicted by a grand jury in Boston for allegedly submitting false
information to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to obtain a loan on behalf of
a business he no longer owned.

Stavros Papantoniadis, a/k/a “Steve Papantoniadis,” 49, of Westwood, was indicted on
two counts of wire fraud. Papantoniadis, who is currently in federal custody on the
alleged forced labor charges, will make an initial appearance in federal court in Boston
at a later date.

According to court documents, Papantoniadis is the owner and operator of Stash’s
Pizza, a chain of pizzerias in greater Boston. In April 2021, Papantoniadis sold one of his
pizzerias located in Randolph, Mass., and the Secretary of State subsequently cancelled
the limited liability company through which Papantoniadis owned the Randolph
pizzeria.

Between November 2021 and January 2022, Papantoniadis allegedly applied for an
Economic Injury Disaster Loan from the SBA. These loans were designed to provide relief
for small businesses that suffered substantial economic injury during the COVID-19
pandemic. It is alleged that, in his submissions to the SBA, Papantoniadis falsely
represented that he still owned and operated Boston Pizza Company in Randolph,
claiming that he had 18 employees. However, Papantoniadis had allegedly sold the
business several months before he applied for the loan. The SBA approved the loan and
sent Papantoniadis $499,900.

In March 2023, Papantoniadis was arrested and charged with one count of forced labor.
He was subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury on four counts of forced labor and
three counts of attempted forced labor. He has remained in federal custody since his
arrest. Papantoniadis has pleaded not guilty in this case and is awaiting trial, which is
scheduled for May 20, 2024.

The charges of wire fraud provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to five
years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charges of forced labor
and attempted forced labor, which are contained in a separate indictment, provide for a
sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to five years of supervised release and a fine of
up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the
U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence
in a criminal case.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of
Homeland Security Investigations in New England; Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in
Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region
made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy E. Moran, Chief of the
Organized Crime & Gang Unit and Brian A. Fogerty of the Civil Rights & Human
Trafficking Unit are prosecuting the case.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement
Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with
agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-
related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most
culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with
administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating
existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover
fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and
insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the
department’s response to the pandemic, please
visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus and https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus/comb
atingfraud.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can
report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud
(NCDF) Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is
presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court
of law.
Updated April 10, 2024

Topics
CORONAVIRUS

FINANCIAL FRAUD

LABOR & EMPLOYMENT


Component
USAO - Massachusetts


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