Exclusive | Restaurant owned by famed NYC news anchor Rosanna Scotto robbed of $2.5M by brazen staffer who used siphoned cash to buy house
Popular Italian restaurant Fresco by Scotto was robbed of more than $2 million by its brazen bookkeeper — who allegedly used the siphoned cash to buy a house, pay her husband’s internet bills and line her own pockets, The Post has learned.
Lori Jakubowski is facing charges that she embezzled $2.5 million for the Midtown East hotspot co-owned by Channel 5’s “Good Day New York” anchor Rosanna Scotto, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors in DA Alvin Bragg’s office said Jakubowski ran the grand scheme over a seven-year period, stealing money in any way she could — from snatching cash tips to writing herself checks from the eatery’s bank account.
Lori Jakubowski allegedly embezzled $2.5 million from Manhattan restaurant Fresco by Scotto. Gabriella Bass
The bookkeeper allegedly scammed the restaurant over a seven-year period. NY Post Brian Zak
The embezzled moolah helped fund her lifestyle away from work, including at least $100,000 she used to buy a house in Pennsylvania with her husband, prosecutors said.
“(She) used the restaurant’s bank account to pay for her husband’s Spectrum Internet bill,” Assistant District Attorney Stephen MacArthur said at Jakubowski’s first court appearance in the case Wednesday.
Jakubowski was also “overpaying herself by issuing unauthorized paychecks allegedly for vacation time,” MacArthur said in court.
As part of the scheme to purchase the $164,500 home, Jakubowski allegedly made out 88 separate checks and money orders and cashed them over a four-day period, according to court documents.
Jakubowski arriving at her arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court on Dec. 10, 2025. Gabriella Bass
Fresco by Scotto is owned by “Good Day New York” host Rosanna Scotto. Brian Zak/Page Six
Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Althea Drysdale agreed to release Jakubowski on supervision — but warned her that the decision wasn’t a “get-out-of-court-free card.”
“As much as you have that other abode in Pennsylvania, you must come to court when I tell you to come to court. Do you understand?” the judge asked, to which Jakubowski responded, “I understand.”
Jakubowski was indicted on grand larceny and falsifying business records charges and faces up to 25 years behind bars, if convicted on the top count.
Jakubowski allegedly stole tips and wrote checks to herself from the restaurant’s bank account. Gabriella Bass
She pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Her attorney, Michael Fineman, did not comment after the arraignment. She’s due back in court on Feb. 28, 2026.
Fresco by Scotto, owned by Rosanna and her children Jenn and LJ Ruggiero, recently renewed its lease at 485 Madison Ave.
The eatery opened in 1993 and bills itself as offering an “extension of true Italian hospitality,” according to its website.
A spokesperson for Fresco by Scotto said it was cooperating with the investigation.
