Tweet
Uh-oh, Brent.
Crime blog: Bob's Steak and Chop House founder pleads guilty to stealing investor's $300,000
AText Size
By JENNIFER EMILY Staff Writer jemily@dallasnews.com
Published 18 April 2011 02:51 PM
Editor's note: This item originally appeared on dallasnews.com's Crime blog.
Bob Sambol, founder of Bob's Steak & Chop House, plead guilty this afternoonto felony theft after prosecutors alleged that he swindled an investor out of $300,000.
Sambol has agreed to restitution of the sum, and will be sentenced to 10 years of deferred adjudication probation at a later date.
My 2009 original story:
Publication Date: March 28, 2009
Bob's owner stays put Steakhouse mogul facing theft charge hasn't made plans to turn himself in
JENNIFER EMILY
He's a wanted man now, but steaks are wanted, too - and Bob Sambol was still on the job Friday, serving up Texas juiciness at his high-end Bob's Steak & Chop House.
Sambol said that he had made no plans to turn himself in to authorities after being charged with felony theft and accused of swindling an investor out of $300,000. His indictment was made public Thursday.
"No one has told me to so far," said Sambol, 55. "I'm here at the restaurant working. It's business as usual."
The charges stem from an investment he accepted to expand his restaurant on Lemmon Avenue in Oak Lawn, where the wealthy and famous dine in Dallas.
Perched on the edge of affluent Highland Park, Bob's is a nexus where sports heroes, financial heavyweights and the occasional movie star collide over pricey steaks and full-bodied California red wines.
Hockey player Mike Modano and basketball player Dirk Nowitzki regularly hold court at the front room's most prominent round tables. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban celebrated his last birthday there, and billionaire T. Boone Pickens often dines in a back room with his office brain trust.
Sambol said the indictment was about "a business deal gone bad." He added, "We tried to work it out" but he couldn't repay the money. He said it would be "silly" to comment further.
But attorneys for Lee Thompson, the man who invested the money, said Sambol never had any intent to expand the restaurant.
"Even after the ruse was discovered and Mr. Sambol refused to return the money, Mr. Thompson tried to help his friend," said Thompson's attorney, Chris Lewis. "Mr. Thompson arranged for multiple professionals to assist Mr. Sambol with his financial situation, at no cost to Mr. Sambol. Mr. Sambol refused this help."
Sambol's attorney, Heath Hyde, said the money owed to Thompson isn't a criminal issue.
"This is a civil matter that had been filed at the wrong courthouse," Hyde said. "I believe it will all be worked out."
If convicted, Sambol, 55, faces five years to life in prison because of the amount of money involved.
There is no civil court case filed in Dallas County involving Sambol and Thompson.
According to records, Sambol asked Thompson for $300,000 to add a cigar lounge to the restaurant, decorated in manly, dark tones punctuated with autographed photos and rare memorabilia from horse racing, boxing and other sports.
Thompson, whose family owns a business that supplies colleges with dorm furniture, was to receive a percentage of the profits in exchange for financing the renovation.
The two men became casual friends because Thompson ate at Bob's several times a week over the last five or six years, said Lewis.
They had no business relationship before Thompson loaned the money for the expansion, the lawyer said.
Thompson wrote three checks for $100,000 each to Sambol in the fall of 2007, according to records.
Construction of the cigar lounge was to begin in January 2008 but never did.
Sambol did write Thompson a check for $300,000 as repayment but then repeatedly asked Thompson not to cash it, Lewis said. The district attorney's office now has that check.
The prosecutor assigned to the case, Nick Cariotis, said that investigators tried to organize repayment of the money but that Sambol did not meet a Monday deadline.
The grand jury heard the case Tuesday and handed up its indictment two days later.
Cariotis said the grand jury still would have heard the case had Sambol repaid the money, but it would have done so at a later date.
Sambol was not charged prior to the grand jury hearing the case. Prosecutors asked grand jurors to determine whether the faulty business deal was a criminal act.
Sambol was convicted of a 1994 DWI. He pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor and was sentenced to 24 months' probation.
In addition to the Oak Lawn location, there are Bob's franchises with other owners in Plano , Grapevine, Fort Worth, San Francisco, and Tucson, Ariz.
In January, Omni Hotels said it bought a 50 percent stake in the Bob's brand and said it plans to add freestanding restaurants and restaurants in its hotels. The deal did not include the Oak Lawn Bob's, which Sambol opened in 1983.
It's unclear how much money Sambol made from the sale. Both Sambol and Omni Hotels declined to disclose the terms of the deal.
Sambol's attorney says his client will turn himself in. A bail amount has been set for $15,000.
Crime blog: Bob's Steak and Chop House founder pleads guilty to stealing investor's $300,000
AText Size
By JENNIFER EMILY Staff Writer jemily@dallasnews.com
Published 18 April 2011 02:51 PM
Editor's note: This item originally appeared on dallasnews.com's Crime blog.
Bob Sambol, founder of Bob's Steak & Chop House, plead guilty this afternoonto felony theft after prosecutors alleged that he swindled an investor out of $300,000.
Sambol has agreed to restitution of the sum, and will be sentenced to 10 years of deferred adjudication probation at a later date.
My 2009 original story:
Publication Date: March 28, 2009
Bob's owner stays put Steakhouse mogul facing theft charge hasn't made plans to turn himself in
JENNIFER EMILY
He's a wanted man now, but steaks are wanted, too - and Bob Sambol was still on the job Friday, serving up Texas juiciness at his high-end Bob's Steak & Chop House.
Sambol said that he had made no plans to turn himself in to authorities after being charged with felony theft and accused of swindling an investor out of $300,000. His indictment was made public Thursday.
"No one has told me to so far," said Sambol, 55. "I'm here at the restaurant working. It's business as usual."
The charges stem from an investment he accepted to expand his restaurant on Lemmon Avenue in Oak Lawn, where the wealthy and famous dine in Dallas.
Perched on the edge of affluent Highland Park, Bob's is a nexus where sports heroes, financial heavyweights and the occasional movie star collide over pricey steaks and full-bodied California red wines.
Hockey player Mike Modano and basketball player Dirk Nowitzki regularly hold court at the front room's most prominent round tables. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban celebrated his last birthday there, and billionaire T. Boone Pickens often dines in a back room with his office brain trust.
Sambol said the indictment was about "a business deal gone bad." He added, "We tried to work it out" but he couldn't repay the money. He said it would be "silly" to comment further.
But attorneys for Lee Thompson, the man who invested the money, said Sambol never had any intent to expand the restaurant.
"Even after the ruse was discovered and Mr. Sambol refused to return the money, Mr. Thompson tried to help his friend," said Thompson's attorney, Chris Lewis. "Mr. Thompson arranged for multiple professionals to assist Mr. Sambol with his financial situation, at no cost to Mr. Sambol. Mr. Sambol refused this help."
Sambol's attorney, Heath Hyde, said the money owed to Thompson isn't a criminal issue.
"This is a civil matter that had been filed at the wrong courthouse," Hyde said. "I believe it will all be worked out."
If convicted, Sambol, 55, faces five years to life in prison because of the amount of money involved.
There is no civil court case filed in Dallas County involving Sambol and Thompson.
According to records, Sambol asked Thompson for $300,000 to add a cigar lounge to the restaurant, decorated in manly, dark tones punctuated with autographed photos and rare memorabilia from horse racing, boxing and other sports.
Thompson, whose family owns a business that supplies colleges with dorm furniture, was to receive a percentage of the profits in exchange for financing the renovation.
The two men became casual friends because Thompson ate at Bob's several times a week over the last five or six years, said Lewis.
They had no business relationship before Thompson loaned the money for the expansion, the lawyer said.
Thompson wrote three checks for $100,000 each to Sambol in the fall of 2007, according to records.
Construction of the cigar lounge was to begin in January 2008 but never did.
Sambol did write Thompson a check for $300,000 as repayment but then repeatedly asked Thompson not to cash it, Lewis said. The district attorney's office now has that check.
The prosecutor assigned to the case, Nick Cariotis, said that investigators tried to organize repayment of the money but that Sambol did not meet a Monday deadline.
The grand jury heard the case Tuesday and handed up its indictment two days later.
Cariotis said the grand jury still would have heard the case had Sambol repaid the money, but it would have done so at a later date.
Sambol was not charged prior to the grand jury hearing the case. Prosecutors asked grand jurors to determine whether the faulty business deal was a criminal act.
Sambol was convicted of a 1994 DWI. He pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor and was sentenced to 24 months' probation.
In addition to the Oak Lawn location, there are Bob's franchises with other owners in Plano , Grapevine, Fort Worth, San Francisco, and Tucson, Ariz.
In January, Omni Hotels said it bought a 50 percent stake in the Bob's brand and said it plans to add freestanding restaurants and restaurants in its hotels. The deal did not include the Oak Lawn Bob's, which Sambol opened in 1983.
It's unclear how much money Sambol made from the sale. Both Sambol and Omni Hotels declined to disclose the terms of the deal.
Sambol's attorney says his client will turn himself in. A bail amount has been set for $15,000.
Comment