VISTA -- City Councilman Frank Lopez Jr. is under investigation for allegedly passing dozens of bad paychecks to employees at his Mexican restaurant, a court document reveals.
The Sheriff's Department has served two search warrants, one in February and one two weeks ago, to obtain the restaurant's financial records from two local banks, a court document shows.
Former restaurant employees had complained that paychecks routinely bounced, according to a sworn affidavit seeking the second warrant.
In some cases, the employees said, they were repaid months late, if at all, the affidavit states.
Lopez, working at the restaurant Thursday, said he was unaware of the investigation.
He acknowledged having "problems" with payroll over the years.
He pointed to the empty seats in his dining room and chalked it up to tough times.
"It is what is it," Lopez said. "What can I say? I'm just doing the best I can right now."
Lopez said that all employees were eventually paid.
"If I owe them, tell them to come to me," he said. "That's all they have to do."
One search warrant included a request that the judge restrict the bank from notifying Lopez that a warrant had been served.
Sheriff's Sgt. Mark Varnau of the financial crimes unit in San Diego confirmed Thursday that an investigation was taking place and said it was 90 percent complete.
He declined to discuss specifics.
"We are close to presenting a case to the district attorney's office," Varnau said.
There are a range of civil and criminal penalties associated with writing bad checks.
For nearly four decades, Lopez has owned Casa Linda Mexican restaurant on South Santa Fe Avenue with his wife, Mary.
He became a City Councilman in 2004, and was re-elected in November with 31 percent of the vote.
On May 4, the Sheriff's Department seized 101 pages of the restaurant's financial records from California Community Bank, according to a court document.
A records search at another bank Feb. 18 revealed 92 checks, totalling approximately $18,200, returned for insufficient funds between July 1, 2004 and Dec. 1, 2008, the affidavit states.
A former waitress told law enforcement that the business bounced so many paychecks that employees would joke about who would cash theirs first, knowing that there may not be enough money left in the account, Detective William Thomas said in the affidavit.
Lopez reportedly told one waitress on Nov. 1 that he would "pay her back all that he owed her and would give her a week off with pay" if he was re-elected to the council on Nov. 4, the affidavit states.
Contact staff writer Craig TenBroeck at 760-901-4062
