VIDEO: Acapulco Owner Among Dozens Arrested

An Acapulco Mexican Restaurant employee is taken from the Lawrenceburg establishment on Monday.

Mike Perleberg-Eagle 99.3

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) – The owner of the Acapulco Mexican Restaurant chain in southeast Indiana is at the center of a raid concerning accusations of stolen social security numbers, money laundering, and theft.

Adolfo Lopez was one of dozens of people arrested during a warrant sweep by Indiana Excise Police, Dearborn County Special Crimes Unit, and Lawrenceburg Police on Monday.  Officers handcuffed employees at restaurant locations in Lawrenceburg, Aurora, Rising Sun, Batesville, and Versailles.

Police also took records from a tax-preparation service in Greenwood, two banks in Lafayette, and five other banks in the southeast region.

According to information investigators included in a probable cause affidavit, Lopez only reported the credit card sales made at his Indiana restaurants. He did not report thousands of dollars in cash sales.

Also, investigators said that almost all of the employees at the restaurants had false identification. The charges range from corrupt business influence to forgery and perjury.

The suspects arrested in Dearborn County were being loaded into corrections vans and being taken to the Dearborn County Law Enforcement Center in Lawrenceburg for processing.

Monday's events may mark a hard fall from grace for a popular and seemingly successful local business. Acapulco Mexican Restaurant was named the 2011 Business of the Year by the Dearborn County Chamber of Commerce.

Acapulco restaurants were closed on Monday. It is unclear if or when they may reopen. There are not many other Mexican restaurants in Dearborn, Ohio, and Ripley counties, meaning people seeking the ethnic cuisine may be forced to travel out of state.

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SEI Mexican Restaurants Raided