Latest news with #JaredLeonard
CBS News
15-07-2025
- Business
- CBS News
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.
CBS News
07-03-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Denver restaurant seized by Colorado Department of Revenue after employees quit over missing wages
The Colorado Department of Revenue has seized multiple properties, including a popular Denver BBQ restaurant, after they said the owners failed to pay taxes for years. The entire staff of AJ's Pit Bar-B-Q in Denver recently quit, stating owner Jared Leonard had been taking taxes from their paychecks and then not putting that money towards taxes. They told CBS Colorado that Leonard has been out of the country for months and the employees made the decision on their own to close the doors. According to AJ's website, the Texas-style Bar-B-Q restaurant was recognized in the 2023 MICHELIN Guide Colorado. Former AJ's General Manager Patrick Klaiber said he questioned Leonard's tax practices and legal action Leonard was facing, but was told it was nothing to worry about. He said staff paychecks would bounce, payments were made using Venmo or Zelle, and some employees are now receiving notices from the IRS that they owe taxes they thought were being paid. "After I found out what I found out, I told all the staff. I said, 'Hey, I can't work for this guy anymore, you probably shouldn't either. So, I'm going to be walking out the door this weekend.' And everyone got behind me. Everyone knew what was going on, I told them every step of the way," said Klaiber. The restaurant has been closed since. Leonard has been behind a number of restaurants across the metro area that have closed over the years, including two in Lakewood that shut down just last month with little notice to those employees. On Wednesday, the Colorado Department of Revenue posted notices outside AJ's stating that it is seizing several properties under Leonard's AU FEU DENVER LLC for unpaid taxes. Properties seized include Zepplin Station and AJ's Pit Bar-B-Q in Denver as well as a home located in the 300 block of Elmgreen Lane in Evergreen. A Notice of Public Sale posted on the door of AJ's on March 5 states the properties will be placed up for sale to pay $65,478.10 owed to the department. Statements posted outside the restaurant show taxes owed reaching back to 2022. The notice said the sale would include the property, furniture, fixtures, equipment and inventory at the locations. The date, time and location of the sale have yet to be determined. CBS Colorado reached out to Leonard for comment, but has not heard back.
