The owner of a now-closed pizza restaurant in Highland Park is facing federal charges alleging he orchestrated a fraud scheme where he stole nearly $200,000 from his payment processing company.
Peter Vivacqua, 38, of Arlington Heights, was charged in a three-count indictment in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
The indictment charges Vivacqua with wire fraud and was returned by a federal grand jury on July 20 in Chicago.
A LinkedIn profile for Vivacqua said he was the owner of Veloce Wood-Fired Pizze, located at 1450 Park Avenue West in Highland Park, from December 2019 until March 2025.
His profile also said he is a graduate of Buffalo Grove High School.
The indictment alleges Vivacqua devised a scheme when he entered into an agreement with a payment processing company, only identified as “Company A,” to obtain a point-of-sale card reader to use for his Veloce customers.
Vivacqua allegedly purchased 56 prepaid cards from convenience stores and used the cards with the point-of-sale device provided by the company.
The indictment said Vivacqua made it appear that the cards were being used by customers of Veloce.
Vivacqua represented to the payment processing company that his customers were using the prepaid cards to pay for tips worth hundreds of dollars to the small business, despite him knowing that was false, charging documents said.
Vivacqua entered tip amounts into the point-of-sale device that he knew exceeded the amount of funds available on the cards, the indictment said.
The payment processing company then sent funds in the full amount charged to the prepaid cards, including the fraudulent tips.
Charging documents said Vivacqua conducted more than 230 fraudulent charges and when the processing company attempted to recoup the money the owner received, Vivacqua ignored their attempts.
Vivacqua used the approximately $176,174 in funds for his own personal use, including gambling, the indictment said, adding that Vivacqua tried to fraudulently obtain another $18,294 from the processing company.
The crimes occurred over the span of at least a month from August 2022 to September 2022, court records show.
Vivacqua appeared in federal court late last month where a public defender was appointed after he filed an affidavit stating he was financially unable to hire an attorney.
U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman allowed Vivacqua to be released pending trial on a $4,500 unsecured bond but ordered him to obtain a mental health evaluation to determine if he needs treatment for gambling addiction.
A status hearing is scheduled for August 31 where a judge is expected to set a deadline for pre-trial motions.