Long Island restaurateur charged again in alleged $50,000 wage theft scam

A West Hempstead restaurateur is facing a second wage-theft case, this time with prosecutors saying he dangled ownership in Anatolia Mediterranean & Grill to keep two workers on the hook before cutting them loose and leaving them out $50,000.

Nassau County prosecutors said Mahmut Unver and Red Lions Food Corp. were arraigned April 8 before Judge Michael Alpert on charges including grand larceny in the second degree, scheme to defraud in the first degree, two counts of failure to pay wages when due under labor law, and willful failure to pay contributions. Unver faces up to 5 to 15 years in prison if convicted, and the case is due back in court April 27.

The new complaint alleges total underpayment of about $58,357. One worker was allegedly shorted about $33,200 over seven months after agreeing to a $1,500 weekly wage for work as a chef, cleaner and server. A second worker was allegedly underpaid about $25,157 after being paid only $913 despite an alleged agreement for $1,000 a week. Prosecutors also say the $50,000 ownership-stake pitch was part of the scheme used to string the workers along.

The charges land in a restaurant business where unstable hours, tip-heavy pay and thin margins can make workers especially vulnerable to any promise that sounds like a path to stability. For cooks, servers and cleaners, a talk of ownership can look like a rare chance to move up in an industry where pay often lags behind the workload. Prosecutors say Unver used that pressure to his advantage.

The case is not Unver’s first. Nassau prosecutors charged him in November 2024, along with Red Lions Food Corp. and co-defendant John Yilmaz, with underpaying several employees by more than $60,000 from September 2023 to April 2024 and failing to pay $13,989 in unemployment insurance contributions to New York State. Taken together, the two cases suggest a pattern rather than an isolated payroll dispute.

The broader enforcement picture shows both progress and gaps. The New York State Department of Labor says the Wage Theft Prevention Act took effect on April 9, 2011 and covers all private-sector employers, while its 2025-2026 budget expanded powers to place liens, issue warrants, seize financial assets and issue stop-work orders after judgments. Still, a 2025 New York Senate-related report said no law bars business owners convicted of wage theft from continuing to operate in the state. Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly’s office has said it has uncovered more than $2 million in labor theft and returned more than $450,000 to 80 workers, underscoring how often recovery comes only after a case is already built.