The former owner and manager of the Royal India Cuisine restaurants in Lynnwood and Kirkland face multiple felony theft charges for failing to pay employees nearly $45,000 from 2021 to 2023.

Mohammad Rashid Bhatti, 74, and Aeisha Bhatti, 47, pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges at their arraignment on June 4. Mohammad Bhatti was the owner and Aeisha Bhatti was the manager of the two locations.

The criminal charges are based on an initial investigation by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, which issued a news release about the case. The agency said it received 41 wage theft complaints from former employees by early 2023. After finding that the employer hadn’t paid workers what they were owed, L&I referred the case to the Washington State Attorney General in February 2023.

The Attorney General filed one count of first-degree theft and eight counts of second-degree theft against both Bhattis, plus an additional count of second-degree theft against Aeisha Bhatti.

“Employers cannot ignore their legal and moral obligation to pay their employees,” said Celeste Monahan, assistant director of L&I’s Fraud Prevention and Labor Standards division.

“These workers earned this money, but their paychecks either bounced or were never delivered. The investigation showed the employer was more than capable of making sure their employees were paid,” Monahan said.

Complainants told L&I the Bhattis failed to pay them their owed wages. Some employees had paychecks that bounced. Others were told by Aeisha Bhatti the checks were on the way but they never got them.

A state investigator did interviews and obtained search warrants for Royal India’s finances, confirming they had the ability to pay their employees but didn’t.

During the investigation, it was discovered that some complainants were also tasked with doing work for Aeisha Bhatti’s other business, Marigold Design House. Additional instances of alleged wage theft were discovered during the investigation, including a nanny hired by Aeisha Bhatti who was allegedly not paid for her work.

The first-degree theft charge alleges one restaurant employee was not paid for 692.45 hours plus another 146.32 hours of overtime worked in four months, totaling $20,394.10 in wages. The unpaid wages in the other counts range from $820 to $4,468, according to charging documents.

The restaurants have a history of wage complaints. L&I has issued 16 notices of assessment from 2019 to 2025, totaling $128,457.70 in wage payments and another $40,460.80 in penalties. L&I has collected $47,763.24 so far.

The Kirkland location is closed, while the Lynnwood location operates under a new name with different owners.

First-degree and second-degree theft are Class B felonies. First-degree theft carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. Second-degree theft has a potential sentence of up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.