Mall on Eastridge Loop in San Jose. SAN JOSE, Calif. - A federal grand jury has indicted a San Jose restaurant owner with bilking $3.5 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds and spending it to refinance his home, buy a Lexus and use at a casino, charging documents indicate.David Tai Leung, who owns half of Tomi Sushi and Seafood Buffet in a mall at 2200 Eastridge Loop, was charged Wednesday in U.S.
District Court on allegations of his fraudulent use of payments from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.Leung had no attorney of record in this case and efforts to contact him on Friday were not immediately successful.
An employee who answered the phone at his restaurant during the lunch hour said, "He's not here, call his cell phone," though she did not provide it.
Leung received $5 million in June 2021 from the federal fund, which was supposed to help restaurants recover from their losses in the pandemic, according to the indictment. MORE: Californian sentenced for $27M phony COVID aid attemptHe signed documents in May 2021 promising to use those pandemic funds to pay his employees, keep the lights on and to keep his business operating from February 2020 through March 2023.