Seven Steakhouse and Sushi Owner Accused of Bilking the Restaurant of Thousands

Downtown Minneapolis' swank restaurant/nightclub Seven Sushi and Steakhouse has allegedly been ground zero for some shady shenanigans courtesy of its main owner, David Koch. A group of investors filed a lawsuit on October 18 against Koch for a lengthy laundry list of dirty deeds, including falsifying financial records, concealing information, being high and/or drunk on company time and using the restaurant’s coffers as "his personal piggy bank".

The full name of the Minneapolis establishment located on the corner of Hennepin Avenue and 7th Street is Seven Steakhouse Sushi Ultra Lounge & Skybar. It's a high end, multi-level restaurant and night club combination with luxurious corners that appeal to high-end customers like visiting celebrities and athletes. The club-type atmosphere often draws in patrons until the wee hours of the night.

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The sleek event space at Seven.

Investors David Anderson, Jeffrey Carlson, Jerome Gardner, Alex Luebbert, Oscar Luebbert, Thomas Keran, John Peabody, Lori Youmans and David Youmans are accusing of several shady business dealings including:

• Koch filing for bankruptcy in 2009 without counsel of the investors, only disclosed when he needed signatures on the legal documents.

• Koch made a distribution to Koch Hospitality and his wife without making similar distributions to other members.

• Koch used cash from bars on Seven’s patios and "for his personal needs or desires."

Invenstors claim investors put the missing funds somewhere between $58,000 on the low end and $242,000 on the high end.

Koch is currently under a temporary restraining order banning him from so much as stepping foot onto the  the Seven premesis.

Koch disputes all of the allegations. He told local CBS affiliate WCCO that he and his wife work an average of 180-200 hours combined per week and have been more than generous with investors, providing them with "complimentary meals that they’ve eaten in the thousands of dollars, in the past nine years."

• Seven Restaurant's Owner Sued, Accused of Using It As "Personal Piggy Bank' [WCCO]