UPDATED: Zest Owner Charged With Felony Attempted Theft

Frustrated by bureaucratic red tape and faced with mounting debts, the owner of Zest Bar & Grille in Eagan is now facing criminal charges after allegedly attempting to defraud a Dakota County agency.

Alejandro Luebbert, who opened Zest in late 2011, is facing a felony attempted theft by false representation charge, according to a criminal complaint from the Dakota County Attorney's Office. If convicted, Luebbert could face a maximum of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Police say Luebbert received "significant" relocation funding from a Dakota County agency prior to and following the opening of Zest, which is located at the corner of Hwy. 3 and Diffley Road in Eagan. During that process, Luebbert allegedly submitted to the agency a $2,651.34 invoice from a business for the purchase and installation of a camera surveillance system at Zest. The agency reimbursed Luebbert for the full amount of the invoice.

On Aug. 6, 2012, an employee with the agency contacted officers and informed them that the surveillance system was never installed.

Police spoke with the business listed on the invoice, and learned that the invoice was an estimate for work to be done, but that the surveillance system had never been never installed.

On Sept. 28, 2012, officers interviewed Luebbert. During the questioning, police say Luebbert admitted that he submitted the claim to the county agency, but never followed through with the installation of the camera system identified in the invoice.

Luebbert allegedly told officers that he submitted the invoice in the hopes that he would receive the money, and could then find a company to install the system t a lower price. He told officers he eventually installed a system himself for $600, according to the complaint.

The restaurant owner allegedly told police that he was frustrated because the county had denied so many of his previous claims, according to the complaint. He also mentioned that he was in a lot of debt as a result of the relocation.

Luebbert, who also owns Super Mercado Olmeca in Burnsville, has been sued eight times over the past three years by several debtors, according to a report in Sun Thisweek.

Patch Senior Local Editor Micheal Foley contributed to this report.