Authorities alleged that the granddaughters of Caterina Malara, the founder of Malara’s Italian Restaurant in Omaha, stole over $500,000 from her through forged checks and illegal credit card transactions while her health was failing.Police said the victim was Caterina Malara, who died in 2023. Her granddaughter, Ashley Gomez, faces two counts of theft. She is accused of opening several fraudulent credit cards and paying them off using the restaurant’s bank account, totaling more than $250,000. However, investigators said only about $10,000 of this amount is still within the statute of limitations.Gomez and her sister, Alexandria Kuta, are also accused of writing themselves $150,000 checks, claiming they were gifts from Malara. Family members stated that Malara never mentioned these gifts and was a vulnerable adult at the time the checks were written. The sisters eventually returned the money to a trust a couple of months after cashing the checks.Authorities said that despite the money being returned, they have recordings showing the sisters pressed Malara to authorize the checks, which she never did. Both sisters are facing felony charges and potentially years behind bars. They are scheduled to appear in court on Friday.Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |
OMAHA, Neb. —
Authorities alleged that the granddaughters of Caterina Malara, the founder of Malara’s Italian Restaurant in Omaha, stole over $500,000 from her through forged checks and illegal credit card transactions while her health was failing.
Police said the victim was Caterina Malara, who died in 2023.
Her granddaughter, Ashley Gomez, faces two counts of theft.
She is accused of opening several fraudulent credit cards and paying them off using the restaurant’s bank account, totaling more than $250,000. However, investigators said only about $10,000 of this amount is still within the statute of limitations.
Gomez and her sister, Alexandria Kuta, are also accused of writing themselves $150,000 checks, claiming they were gifts from Malara.
Family members stated that Malara never mentioned these gifts and was a vulnerable adult at the time the checks were written.
The sisters eventually returned the money to a trust a couple of months after cashing the checks.
Authorities said that despite the money being returned, they have recordings showing the sisters pressed Malara to authorize the checks, which she never did.
Both sisters are facing felony charges and potentially years behind bars.
They are scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.
NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |
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