The owner of a Boston pizza shop who is facing federal forced labor charges was indicted by a grand jury after prosecutors say he submitted false information to the U.S. Small Business Administration to obtain a loan on behalf of a business he did not own at the time.
Stavros Papantoniadis, 49, of Westwood, who also goes by the name Steve Papantoniadis, now faces two counts of wire fraud. He was already in federal custody on the forced labor charges, acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua S. Levy’s office announced Wednesday.
Papantoniadis owns Stash’s Pizza, a chain of restaurants with locations in the greater Boston area, including Dorchester and Norwood. In April 2021, he sold a Randolph restaurant, prompting the Secretary of State to cancel the limited liability company he owned the store through, Levy’s office said.
Months later, between November 2021 and January 2022, prosecutors say Papantoniadis applied for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan from the Small Business Administration, where he claimed he still owned the Randolph restaurant, Boston Pizza Company, and said he had 18 employees, according to the statement. In reality, prosecutors say, Papantoniadis sold the business months before he applied for the loan.
The Small Business Administration approved the loan and sent Papantoniadis nearly $500,000.
Papantoniadis was arrested and charged with one count of forced labor in March 2023. He was later indicted on four counts of forced labor and three counts of attempted forced labor, and has pleaded not guilty to those charges. His trial is scheduled to begin on May 20.
Both the wire fraud charges and the forced labor and attempted forced labor charges carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, Levy’s office said.
