Former owner of Michelin-recognized restaurant in Denver indicted for alleged fraud
Just months after employees at AJ's Pit BBQ walked off the job, concerned about restaurant owner Jared Leonard's financial practices, Leonard has been indicted on federal fraud charges.
According to the complaint filed in a U.S. District Court in Illinois, Leonard is accused of fraudulently obtaining roughly $1.6 million in COVID relief money meant to aid small businesses through the pandemic.
According to the court document in April of 2022, Leonard applied for an economic relief loan claiming AJ's Pit BBQ employed 17 employees and had a cost of goods totaling $300,000 in the year prior to January 2020.
That same month, the complaint says Leonard also applied for a PPP loan on behalf of AJ's Pit BBQ and that the application "falsely" claimed that the restaurant had 117 employees with an average monthly payroll of more than $100k a month. With that application, the complaint says Leonard filed a fake IRS form to show payments to employees of AJ's Pit BBQ totaling over $1 million.
According to the indictment, the COVID relief money he received was used for "personal benefit" and included the purchase of a $1.2 million home in Evergreen, paid for in cash.
A federal court database shows that in mid-June, a warrant was issued in the case.
The indictment comes after a story CBS News Colorado aired in March when the entire staff at AJ's Pit BBQ walked off the job, forcing the restaurant to close.
CBS Colorado spoke with several of the employees at the time, including the restaurant's Michelin-recognized pit master, Patrick Klaiber, who raised concerns about missing wages & unpaid taxes.
Leonard, they said, had gone to Mexico months earlier, leaving them unemployed and with little recourse.
CBS Colorado received a statement from Leonard via text message at the time. He said, in part, "We built these businesses from nothing. The current staff has worked for us, with no financial risk, & have been paid fairly to do so."
Days after employees walked out of the restaurant, the Colorado Department of Revenue stepped in, seizing the building and everything inside for unpaid taxes.
CBS Colorado reached out to Leonard for comment on the federal charges he's now facing, and at the time of publishing, had not heard back.
