A former restaurant manager at Chester’s Piccolino, has been sentenced after admitting being part of a loyalty scheme con which resulted in the chain losing more than £20,000.
Mario D’Agostino appeared at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday, where he received a 21-month suspended sentence. He also has to complete 100 hours of unpaid work. The 61-year-old of Deganwy Close, Buckley, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of fraud.
During the hearing the court heard how D’Agostino had previously worked as the general manager at a restaurant on Pepper Street, Chester.
The restaurant ran a customer loyalty scheme, which allowed customers to collect and redeem points against their purchases at any of the individual restaurants.
It also had an introductory offer which enabled customers to sign up to a loyalty card scheme and receive £20 off their next visit.
In April 2022, the chain which owned the Chester restaurant launched an investigation after they noticed that an unusually high number of customers were using the introductory offer at the Chester venue compared to other sites.
Their figures showed that 60 per cent of customers were redeeming points using the loyalty scheme at the Chester restaurant, compared to an average of 7 per cent.
During the internal investigation D’Agostino admitted that he was responsible. He claimed that he, and other members of staff at the Chester site, had been creating fake email addresses and loyalty profiles in order to exploit the scheme.
In total between June 2021 and July 2022, D’Agostino committed fraud to the value of over £21,000 via the scheme. The matter was subsequently reported to police, and he was later charged with one count of fraud.
Detective constable Joe Duckworth said: “D’Agostino held a position of trust, and he abused that trust for his own financial gain. Through his actions, he exploited more than £21,000 from the loyalty scheme, causing a significant loss to the restaurant.
“I welcome the fact that he has now been held accountable for his actions, and I hope that his conviction will act as a warning to others that Cheshire Police will continue to pursue those involved in fraud.”
