A romantic, historic restaurant in Virginia Beach, Virginia, has closed due to a long-running theft operation. 

Originally a Victorian-style farmhouse from the Civil War era, The Cellars was once a popular restaurant, even being named one of OpenTable's most romantic restaurants in the country.

The restaurant closed in November 2016 for lack of funds to stay in operation, but we are just now finding out the real reason: An employee of the restaurant, Nakai Koyenhan, has pleaded guilty of stealing over $377,000.

The owner of this historic home and dining establishment put her entire trust into Koyenhan, who was her bookkeeper. Checks were signed and handed over (often with a blank payee line), with the faith that they would be used to pay bills as the owner intended. But that was not the case. In fact, Koyenhan used the money to pay everything but the restaurant’s bills. 

Courtesy of pilotonline.com

With basically no supervision whatsoever, she used the money to pay her car payments, travel to various countries, buy a wedding ring, and more truly outrageous expenditures. Apparently, the temptation of blank checks was just too easy for Koyenhan to resist. 

The theft occurred continuously from 2014 to 2017, with more than 304 checks used in an abusive manner. 

So, what’s the lesson here? Don’t only trust one person in your company. Make sure there are enough people to balance the power and keep things in check. 

The restaurant and accompanying bed and breakfast are now up for sale. 

What do you think about this crazy story? Let us know in the comments below!

Virginia Beach has its first ice skating rink! Find out all about it here!