CLEVELAND — A Cuyahoga County grand jury has indicted former Cleveland restaurant owner Marcelo Fadul Neves, 59, on multiple charges, including aggravated theft, telecommunications fraud and tampering with records, for allegedly misusing more than $800,000 in federal COVID relief funds.
Neves, the former owner of Crop Bistro in Cleveland, received $846,720 in Restaurant Revitalization Funds in 2021. Prosecutors say the federal COVID relief money, meant to support his business, was allegedly spent on personal expenses, debt payments and the purchase of another restaurant, Bistro on the Falls in Olmsted Falls.
According to officials, when he applied for the funds, Crop Bistro had already closed and never reopened…