Gina Luari, owner of a The Place 2 Be in West Hartford as well as other local restaurants, was arrested Wednesday via warrant on charges involving writing bad checks to another Connecticut business.

By Ronni Newton

The owner of a restaurant chain that has a location in West Hartford was arrested Wednesday via warrant on two felony charges involving a restaurant supply company.

Gjinovefa “Gina” Luari, 33, CEO of The Statement Group – which includes The Place 2 Be and other area restaurants – is was released after posting a $10,000 surety bond and is due back in court on Oct. 22 to face charges of second-degree larceny and issuing a bad check of more than $2,000.

Luari, a West Hartford resident who currently operates restaurants in West Hartford, Hartford, and New Haven, was arrested by East Hartford Police in connection with a complaint filed by Restaurant Supply Paradise in East Hartford. According to a report by WTNH, the manager of Restaurant Supply Paradise, Richard Singer, filed the complaint with East Hartford Police in July regarding two checks written by Luari on June 5 – payment for equipment she had purchased from his company – that were returned because they were from an account that had been closed.

One check was for $2,620.46 and the other was for $8,201.20, Singer informed police on July 17. While Luari was a “common customer” of the business, the arrest warrant stated, this was “approximately the fifth time” they had received a bad check from her. In past instances she had always resolved the issue within a few weeks, but that did not happen this time.

Singer told police, the warrant states, that he had reached out to Luari on June 18 via email, and she replied that she didn’t realize the error until after it had occurred, and told him that she would supply a bank check for the total amount of the two bad checks, but “just haven’t had a minute to grab it with everything going around this bakery launch” – likely a reference to the opening of The Bakery by the Place 2 Be, which replaced her original restaurant on Franklin Avenue this summer.

Police reached out to Luari, the warrant said. “Gina [Luari] stated she was going to pay back restaurant the money owed and she did not realize the bank account was closed. Gina stated she has done business with Restaurant Equipment Paradise for years and over the time she has paid back whatever she owed. Gina stated miscommunication began when Richard got
involved instead of the owner Kenneth. Gina stated Richard was not understanding.” The warrant states that she told police she “felt it was in her best interest” to get her lawyers involved in the situation, and added that she was waiting for her “credit from Blue Back Square to deposit” so that she could pay the balance owed to Restaurant Equipment Paradise.

It is not clear what that expected credit from Blue Back Square was related to, and in addition, the arrest warrant noted, that while Luari does have a location of The Place 2 Be in Blue Back Square, the restaurant equipment was for her Franklin Avenue restaurant and had nothing to do with Blue Back Square. The warrant notes that the owner of Restaurant Equipment Paradise, Kenneth, “stated she is lying to me about the credit from Blue Back Square being paid to Restaurant Equipment Paradise.”

According to the warrant, Restaurant Equipment Paradise owner, Kenneth Swerdlick, verified to police the equipment that had provided to Luari and said that she had provided the two checks which general manager of Restaurant Equipment Paradise, Geri Ricci, deposited at Windsor Federal Savings. Both checks were returned the next day due to the accounts being closed, and he filed charges after his numerous attempts to obtain a response from Luari regarding payment, other than the response to the initial June 18 email, were ignored.

We-Ha.com has reached out directly to Luari for comment regarding the arrest but has not received a response.

Gina Luari, owner of The Place 2 Be sits in one of the Blue Back Square restaurant’s most Instagrammable spots. Photo credit: Ronni Newton (we-ha.com file photo)

This is not the first recent brush with the legal system or regulatory agencies for Luari related to her restaurant business. The Place 2 Be at 50 Memorial Road in West Hartford’s Blue Back Square is currently open for business, but was closed several times over the summer – initially by the West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District due to violations including a “severe cockroach infestation” and then after the sales and use tax permit was suspended by the Department of Revenue Services.

The business has also been embroiled in litigation with its West Hartford landlord, Blue Back Capital Partners LLC, regarding payment of rent as well as the two closings of the business which the landlord stated were in violation of lease terms. The most recent action, dated Aug. 4, 2025 and agreed to through mediation, is a Final Stay of Execution through March 31, 2026, provided on-time payment of an agreed-to sum for use and occupancy of the premises is made via wire transfer. The agreement states that if payments are not made as specified, the landlord is permitted to file an affidavit “requesting an execution without additional court hearings.”

The Statement Group also planned to open another establishment in Blue Back Square, The Bakery by TP2B, in the former SPoT Coffee space at 69 Memorial Road. The Bakery lease was signed in 2023, but although there has been some progress on build-out of the space, the opening plans have been thwarted by a variety of construction delays, as well as ongoing litigation dating back to early 2024 related to rent payment and failure to comply with a contractually-agreed-upon opening date.

According to online court documents, as of Sept. 11 eviction proceedings are underway for the The Bakery, with Sept. 27 indicated as the date of forfeiture. No hearings or other events related to that case are currently scheduled.

Luari also faces personal legal challenges related to default on the mortgage for her West Hartford home. A foreclosure sale was held several days ago, but the case remains open due to a request for the court to review documentation related to reinstatement of the loan.

Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha’s newsletter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s happening in West Hartford! Click the blue button below to become a supporter of We-Ha.com and our efforts to continue producing quality journalism.