A New Jersey city councilman failed to pay for a wedding reception at a catering hall co-owned by reality TV star Dina Manzo’s ex-husband, an outraged former brother-in-law of Manzo has alleged.
Albert Manzo filed a theft of services complaint against Paterson City Councilman Luis Velez, alleging he has yet to pay for a party he plans to hold in Brownstown in August 2023. He said it’s “sad” to see elected officials walk away from the bill. According to the Patterson Press.
“This is about truth and honesty,” said restaurant co-owner and her brother, Tommy Manzo, a convicted felon who appeared on “Real Housewives of New Jersey” and Dina’s ex-husband.
On Monday, Velez told the outlet that he and Tommy had agreed to pay him $15,000 for the affair.
But the catering hall didn’t deliver as promised, Velez said, and Albert Manzo then allegedly changed the terms and charged $19,000 for the event.
“They didn’t provide a proper venue,” Velez said. “It was not the service I paid for.”
Albert acknowledged that Tommy, who is currently awaiting sentencing on fraud charges, told Velez that the wedding, which involved 200 guests, would cost just $15,000.
But that “exceptional” price (which amounted to a discount for friends and family) was rendered moot when Velez brought 270 guests instead, significantly increasing the cost per person, according to the Press.
“What pisses me off is that he says he didn’t get good service,” Albert said. “Everything was great. He loved everything until he had to pay the fee.”
Velez’s unpaid bills have been outstanding for about a year, Albert said.
The two set up a payment plan about five months ago, he added, but the city councilman has only made one payment.
Velez, who was re-elected in May, claims he has paid twice and was outraged that someone tipped off the media about his past-due debts.
“Whoever sent this should focus on themselves,” the councilman said.
This is not the first time either party has been subject to scandal or criticism.
About two months before the wedding in question, the city of Paterson hired Berreth’s future wife as a keyboard typist at a salary of $35,000 a year.
And the Manzo family has been a source of controversy since at least the 1970s, when Albert and Tommy Manzo Sr., father of Albert and Tommy, ran for mayor of Paterson on a platform of hanging criminals in the Passaic County Jail courtyard.
However, Tiny, a notorious gangster himself, was found dead in the trunk of his Lincoln Continental outside a Union County supermarket in 1983 and was believed to be the victim of a gang assassination.
His son, Tommy, who lives in the upscale Franklin Lakes neighborhood of New Jersey, has had a similarly crime-plagued life.
Last month, he was convicted of hiring alleged Lucchese family soldiers to assault his ex-wife’s new boyfriend, David Cantin, in a Passaic County shopping mall parking lot in 2015.
In return, federal agents say, Tommy Manzo, 59, promised his hired assailants a free wedding at his brownstone.
He was convicted of several charges, including crimes of violence in furtherance of organized crime.
The judge is scheduled to hand down his sentence on October 15th.
Tommy married Dina Manzo (now Dina Cantin) in 2005, and their extravagant wedding was documented on the VH1 reality show, My Big Fabulous Wedding.
However, the couple split in 2012 amid allegations of his infidelity, RHONJ star Kim DePaola told The Washington Post in 2020. However, the couple didn’t officially divorce until 2016.
