Owner of Crop Bistro Marcelo Fadul Neves Indicted on Aggravated Theft and Other Charges for Using Over $800,000 in Federal Restaurant Revitalization Funds on Personal Expenses and Debts

In 2021, Marcelo Fadul Neves applied for a federal Restaurant Revitalization Funds for his restaurant Crop Bistro in Cleveland. He received $846,720 in Restaurant Revitalization Funds to be used on Crop Bistro. At the time he applied for the funds, his restaurant Crop Bistro was already closed and was not reopened.

Neves then used the $846,720 in Restaurant Revitalization Funds for purposes that were not for the loan which included spending the funds on personal expenses, paying off debts, and purchasing Bistro on the Falls (another restaurant) in Olmsted Falls. Bistro on the Falls has since closed.

In addition, from 2020 to 2024, Neves wrote bad checks to multiple individuals including employees of his restaurants for a total of over $140,000. The $140,000 was in addition to the $800,000 in Restaurant Revitalization Funds. The investigation was conducted by the United States Secret Service Money Laundering Task Force with assistance from the Olmsted Falls Police Department. Neves was arrested in Westlake on March 11, 2025, by the US Secret Service Money Laundering Task Force with assistance from Westlake Police Department.

On March 11, 2025, Marcelo Fadul Neves was indicted on the following charges:
• One count of Aggravated Theft (F2)
• One count of Telecommunications Fraud (F2)
• One count of Tampering with Records (F3)
• Two counts of Grand Theft (F4)
• Six counts of Passing Bad Checks (F4)
• Four counts of Passing Bad Checks (F5)

He will be arraigned at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center on March 27.