Crime

Boston Blackie’s Owners Arrested in $1.8 Million Check Fraud Scheme

The owner of Boston Blackies, Nick Giannis and Chris Giannis, along with one of the restaurant’s managers, were arrested near the U.S.-Canada border today in an attempt to flee the country in connection with a $1.8 million check-kiting scheme, reports Chicago Breaking News.

Check-kiting, for those of us who are not fleeing-to-the-border alleged criminals, is the act of writing high-value checks from low-value accounts at one bank in order to make deposits at other banks, then immediately withdrawing that deposited money before the checks bounce. The judge assigning bail compared the trio’s thefts, unfavorably, to Bernie Madoff’s swindling. Boston Blackie’s remains open, if you’re feeling like eating there — much as the restuarant did back in December, when the family filed Chapter 11 over failed expansion plans. We suppose we admire the restaurant for its stoicism. [CBN]

Boston Blackie’s Owners Arrested in $1.8 Million Check Fraud Scheme