PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A husband and wife are accused of stealing more than $1 million from their son’s heating and air conditioning business in Coraopolis.
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday that Joseph Lavas and Tasha Lavas have been indicted on the theft charges.
The prosecutor’s office said the investigation began when Chris Labas, son of Joseph Labas, owner of PNP Heating and Air Conditioning, discovered that checks made out to his company were being cashed.
The investigation revealed that more than 60 checks had been issued to Cash, Joseph and Tasha over the past three years totaling more than $210,000.
Chris Lavas told police his father had recently purchased a home in Mexico for $1.2 million and that he and his stepmother had been using the business funds for personal matters, including home improvements, salary increases and spending on purchases at stores and restaurants.
Police said Chris Lavas estimated the amount of funds misused was more than $1 million.
“My heartfelt condolences go out to the victim and her business,” District Attorney Zappala said. “It’s not easy to run a business these days, much less find out someone has been stealing from you. We take these cases extremely seriously.”
The two suspects are charged with receiving stolen property, criminal conspiracy, theft by unlawful taking and access device fraud.
