Manhattan prosecutors say a Midtown sports bar in the heart of the Theater District was stiffing its own staff while raking in millions in sales.
On Friday, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced that two men and two companies tied to La Macarena Restaurant & Sport Bar in Midtown have been indicted on allegations that they stole thousands of dollars in wages from their employees. According to the indictment, six workers are allegedly owed between roughly $2,000 and $13,000 each, for a total of more than $35,000, even as the business was reportedly taking in millions. Prosecutors say the restaurant operated in the Theater District from September 2021 through January 1, 2025.
In a post on X, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office named Cristian Gallon and his company Gallon Inc., along with Frank Felix and FJ 48 Corp., doing business as La Macarena Restaurant & Sport Bar, as defendants in the case. According to the DA’s announcement, the indictment includes counts of grand larceny in the third degree, two counts of scheme to defraud in the first degree, failure to pay wages, and city tax fraud. Prosecutors say employees were left owed a total of more than $35,000, even as the business generated over $5 million in sales receipts between 2021 and 2025. The same announcement shared a Worker Protection Unit hotline for potential victims at 646-712-0298.
Workers Had Raised Complaints Before
The Midtown spot at 234 West 48th Street had already been on some workers’ radar. In 2023, immigrant workers held a rally alleging unpaid wages at the site, according to the New York Daily News. Local restaurant listings place La Macarena at that address at the base of a Times Square hotel, per Toast. Those earlier complaints line up with prosecutors’ claim that wages allegedly went unpaid while customer receipts kept rolling in.
What Prosecutors Allege
According to court documents and the DA’s announcement on X, Gallon allegedly deposited roughly $1.78 million into FJ 48 bank accounts and more than $2.1 million into Gallon Inc. accounts. Prosecutors say he then transferred more than $400,000 from business accounts into his personal accounts and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on personal expenses.
The DA’s office also alleges that paychecks bounced for more than 80 employees, totaling over $270,000. Prosecutors say point-of-sale withdrawals and other business funds were used for personal spending and that Gallon later issued replacement checks totaling about $45,000. Those alleged money movements form the basis of the grand larceny, fraud, and related tax counts in the indictment.
Charges And Next Steps
The charges remain allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in court. According to the DA’s office, the case will be prosecuted by Assistant D.A. Meredith McGowan in the Rackets Bureau, under the supervision of Christopher Conroy and Judy Salwen.
Prosecutors are urging anyone with information about the case or similar workplace issues to contact the office’s Worker Protection Unit at 646-712-0298.
