FiDi Restaurant Owners Accused of Using Pandemic Relief Funds to Flip Houses

A husband and wife who ran a now defunct SF Financial District lunch spot have been indicted by the feds for improperly using pandemic relief funds for personal expenses, and allegedly laundering a large portion of the money through house flips.

Raouf Bouzidi and Marwa Tebassi were the owners of Chez BeeSen at 200 Pine Street, a cafe that specialized organic salads and made-to-order paninis, which has since closed (it seems to have formerly also had the name Chez Fayala). According to a federal indictment obtained by the Chronicle, filed this week, Bouzidi and Tebassi collected over $1.2 million in federal pandemic aid for their business, but used it to buy a car and expensive Marin County homes instead.

Per the indictment, the couple received a $775,000 grant from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, as well as a $500,000 loan through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

It seems they had a scheme to profit from having all this capital at once, and the feds say that Tebassi very quickly purchased a house in Sausalito for $957,000, turning around and selling it four months later, in March 2022, for $1.4 million, depositing the funds in her personal account.

Soon after that, Tebassi completed another successful flip in Novato, purchasing a home for $1.1 million and selling it in November 2022 for $1.4 million.

As anyone who watches house-flipping shows knows, this likely wasn't all profit, after the cost to add or renovate bathrooms and kitchens. But it likely represents a decent profit.

The couple reportedly received the Restaurant Revitalization grant in May 2021, and soon after Bouzidi bought a $55,000 Mercedes-Benz.

While the indictment is new, the case dates back to November 2022, when the feds swooped in and seized $53,000 from the restaurant's bank account, and $1.2 million from Tebassi's bank account.

If convicted, the couple could be looking at an additional $1.2 million fine, the feds note.

Previously: California Man Gets 11 Years In Federal Clink For $27 Million PPP Loan Fraud Scheme