4-Jan-15 – Forgery, lying, stealing from a bank account, stealing from a cash register, stealing employees, and stealing recipes are just some of the accusations four co-owners of The Purple Pig are making against a fifth who is suing them.

Scott Harris is suing for $1.5 million fellow restaurateurs and partners Jimmy Bannos, Sr., Jimmy Bannos, Jr., and Anthony Mantuano, claiming kickbacks, embezzlement, stiffing employees, squeezing out partners, and sloppy spending at the popular Mag Mile restaurant. His lawsuit, filed on November 20, 2014, also includes investor Gary Veselsky, Laura Payne, the restaurant’s general manager, and Prairie Bread Kitchen, a business owned by Payne’s husband.

A 298-paragraph countersuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court on December 15 by Bannos Sr., Bannos Jr., Mantuano, and Veselsky accuses Harris (left) of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and other charges. They want Harris disassociated from the company and they want damages in excess of $50,000.

According to the countersuit, problems started in 2013, as Harris, who is also the owner the Mia Francesca restaurant chain, ran into financial trouble, closed nine of his restaurants, and defaulted on a $3.6 million loan.

Among the accusations is a claim that Harris signed an agreement with his bank, giving him more time to pay back a loan to Francesca’s – but Purple Pig, which coincidentally had a loan at the same bank, was included in the agreement. The agreement said that Purple Pig was in default on its loan, which managing partner Jimmy Bannos Sr. knew was not true. When Bannos looked at the signature page of the agreement Harris had signed, he found his own signature as well but he says it is a forgery.

Bannos says he was “continually harassed,” by telephone and in his driveway, by Harris and his business partners, who wanted him to sign over financial control of The Purple Pig. He says Harris gave him an agreement to sign, claiming an attorney Bannos trusted had written it – but that attorney, says Bannos, knew nothing of the agreement.

One time, Harris allegedly sent over an employee of Francesca’s who told the general manager there that Francesca’s was taking over Purple Pig’s bookkeeping. The other owners had not approved this, however, as the manager found out when he called Bannos. The countersuit accuses Harris of withdrawing more than $65,000 from Purple Pig’s bank account without notifying anyone, taking gift cards in large amounts, money from a cash register, and claims he has “maxed out” the restaurant’s corporate credit card with personal expenses.

In 2010, Harris opened a new restaurant, Davanti Enoteca, west of the Loop, and in 2013 he opened another on East Hubbard Street in River North. The restaurants, says the countersuit, had menu items similar to Purple Pig’s and were staffed by former employees, lured away by higher pay.

The next status hearing is scheduled for February 9.