Army Vet Sues Former Restaurant Business Partners, Claiming They Defrauded Him Out Of Hundreds Of Thousands In Failed West Town Venture
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A lawsuit has been filed against two Chicago restaurant owners, accusing them of defrauding a U.S. Army veteran out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
As CBS 2's Lauren Victory reported Wednesday morning, the case is also on the FBI's radar.
Army vet Mike Eggum said he invested $265,000 in a restaurant – his life savings from his 10 trips to the Middle East as an Army paratrooper and private contractor.
In 2018, the opening day came for his new venture into Chicago's restaurant world.
"Everyone loves tacos and margaritas and a patio, so it was a cool place," Eggum said.
The Gringo, at 1202 W. Grand Ave., in West Town, served up delectable creations for two and a half years.
Now it sits empty.
"Things just started happening behind the scenes that I didn't know about," Eggum said. "There were bills not being paid, there was rent not being paid."
And there was much more, pre-pandemic. The headline-making restaurant's revenue numbers weren't making sense to its investor.
"I just sat there, figured all of the data points out, and then I brought all of that to the FBI," Eggum said.
Eggum said he found suspicious wire transfers and hundreds of withdrawals labeled Testa Produce, the taco joint's produce provider.
The problem? Expenses like one on March 15, 2019 for more than $21,000, when Testa Produce told CBS 2 the Gringo only spent $7,300 with them that whole month.
"It is possible that we could get additional information from the FBI," said attorney James Oakley of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP.
Oakley just filed a civil lawsuit on Eggum's behalf against the military vet's restaurant partners Ryan Kowalis and Steven Tsonis, alleging fraud.
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"These individual defendants made a bunch of false statements to Mike in order to convince him to invest money," Oakley said.
Eggum said it was happening from the start. He points to his contract showing the Gringo's holding company Kerouac's was acquired on March 5, 2018, but he discovered the ownership transfer certificate is dated two weeks later.
In other words, Eggum said, "When I had put my money in, they hadn't even owned the restaurant."
A civilian's dream was shut down.
"I'm still disappointed," he said. "I'm still angry about it; sad about it."
Demand letters for his money back didn't work, so the battle goes to a judge.
Tsonis told the claims "it's simply not true" and referred CBS 2 to his lawyer. Kowalis's attorney had no comment because he hadn't seen the lawsuit yet.