Shouting “Where’s our money?” and “You’re a thief,” brides and grooms who lost their wedding deposits to a shady Brooklyn restaurateur vented their rage at the pub owner as he left his arraignment on tax-fraud charges Thursday.
One furious bride walked right up to reBar owner Jason Stevens in the hallway of Brooklyn -Supreme Court and shouted, “You are disgusting!”
Stevens shuttered his trendy Dumbo gastropub, which had become a popular wedding venue, on May 9, leaving hundreds of couples with no place to get married and their hundreds of thousands of dollars in wedding deposits nowhere to be found.
“If you think we’re not going to sue the living crap out of you, you’re wrong!” Fabienne Fhal, 41, yelled at Stevens as he waited for an elevator after his brief court appearance.
“Our wedding is June 8! Disgusting! You are disgusting!” the bride shouted.
When Stevens walked outside the courthouse, about a dozen jilted brides and grooms chanted, “Where’s our money?” and “Stealing is a crime!” as he made his way to a waiting car.
“I’d never seen him before in person, so seeing him today was sickening,” said Heather Epstein, 27, who lost her deposit of ¬almost $20,000.
“He stole a piece of my wedding,” Epstein said.
Protesters held up signs with their wedding dates and the amounts they had paid Stevens.
“August 3, 2014 . . . Less than 3 months away! . . . $16,000 stolen,” read the sign brandished by Suzanne Budesa, 28.
In court, Stevens pleaded not guilty to charges that his company withheld nearly $1 million in sales tax between 2009 and 2012.
Prosecutors said there are ongoing plea negotiations and they expect a disposition at Stevens’ next court date on June 12.
Some of the couples called on the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office — which has said the missing deposits are a civil matter — to bring criminal charges against Stevens.
“We really want the Brooklyn DA to press charges against him because his crimes were premeditated,” said Christian Pascarella, 34, who gave Stevens a deposit of $17,500.
“It’s a wedding Ponzi scheme,” said Fhal, who called Stevens a “scumbag” for allegedly scamming her and her fiancé out of their $12,300 deposit.
When Stevens closed reBar earlier this month — posting a sign that read “reBar is closed and bankrupt. DO NOT ENTER” on the door of the Front Street hot spot — more than 50 ¬employees were left out of a job.
