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Bklyn Restaurant Owner Pleads Guilty to Stealing $2.2M

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Michael Levitis agreed to a plea deal that will land him in jail for approximately nine years. The 37 year old Brooklyn club owner admitted to using client’s money from a debt counseling company he owned and operated to fund a lavish lifestyle. In all it is said he bilked about 1200 customers out of $2.2 million dollars. Levitis used the ill-gotten gains from a sham company called Mission Settlement Agency to pay among other high priced perks his mother’s credit card bills and lease a pair of luxury Mercedes Benz vehicles.

Levitis said he was deeply sorry to Judge Paul Gardephe. The scam ran nationwide from about 2009 to May of 2013. The company was supposed to fight on behalf of their clients for debt settlement and a reduction of their monthly bills. The actual charges levied against Levitis were mail fraud and wire fraud conspiracy.

Rasputin, a popular nightclub in the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn once owned by Levitis has since closed. Levitis was brought into court last year after a supposed participator in the scam, Denis Kuryland, gave information about the fraudulent operation. Kuryland faces thirty years in prison and his cooperation may be an attempt to gain leniency at sentencing. Levitis sentencing is scheduled for Aug 21.

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