A Rhode Island grand jury has returned an indictment charging three people, including New London developer Yehuda Amar, with 30 felony counts stemming from an investigation into bribery, obtaining property under false pretenses and tax evasion that involved an executive of Twin River casino in Lincoln, R.I.

Details of the charges were released on Tuesday by the Rhode Island attorney general’s office, a day after Amar, 70, appeared in New London Superior Court to answer charges of being a fugitive from justice.

He had been arrested by New London police in anticipation of charges stemming from a Rhode Island State Police investigation surrounding an alleged kickback scheme at Twin River.

It is alleged that Amar made payments to Michael Barlow, senior vice president of operations at Twin River Worldwide Holdings Inc., as a reward for Barlow steering casino-related businesses his way and allowing Amar to benefit from subleases with multiple Twin River casino food court vendors and other business contracts.

Amar, who has New London and New York addresses, is the co-owner of multiple buildings on Bank Street in New London and has an interest in Rocks 21 Bar and Restaurant in Mystic. He's been widely praised for his work rehabilitating older downtown buildings in New London and filling those buildings with viable businesses and luxury apartments.

He is charged with four counts of bribery, three counts of obtaining property under false pretenses, three counts of conspiracy to obtain property under false pretenses, six counts of failure to file corporate tax, four counts of filing a fraudulent personal income tax return and one count of failing to file a personal income tax return.

Authorities allege that Barlow recruited Amar in 2007 to open a Haagen-Dazs ice cream shop in the Twin River casino food court. Later, in 2012, police said Barlow and Amar purchased several residential and commercial properties in New London. During this time, Barlow incurred $340,000 in debt to Amar through the purchase and renovation of their properties, the indictment alleges. The indictment does not detail which New London properties were involved.

“As alleged in the indictment, after incurring debt to Amar, Barlow used his position as senior vice president of operations at Twin River Worldwide Holdings, Inc to steer vendors and business contracts to Amar, who in turn profited from the transactions. In exchange, Barlow received debt relief from 2012 until 2014,” the indictment alleges. “There were several business transactions where Barlow received debt relief in exchange for setting up Amar to profit significantly."

Among his other business ventures, Amar is the owner of New York-based energy drink companies Private Label Partners Inc. and New York Minute Inc. The indictment alleges that in 2008 Barlow negotiated with Amar to bring a private label energy drink, “B-Low Zero,” to the casino with a Twin River logo. Barlow purchased 2.5 percent interest in Amar’s companies for $100,000 and between 2008 and 2019, authorities allege Twin River purchased 407 pallets of the energy drink for $906,125.

In June 2008, Amar and business associate Jill Feldman incorporated Shai RI Inc. with the Rhode Island secretary of state. The two operated the Haagen-Dazs at Twin River between 2007 and 2017. Authorities allege that Barlow allowed Amar, through Shai RI Inc. to sublease a casino restaurant space and earn $276,599 between 2010 and 2018, despite the fact that Amar had "no lease or any other legal or equitable interest in the space."

In another case, Barlow allegedly directed the chain restaurant Sbarro, which had inquired about opening a franchise at the casino, to negotiate with Amar. Sbarro later opened two franchises at the casino through a sublease with Amar's Shai RI Inc. From 2012 to 2018, Sbarro paid $919,754 in rent. Amar paid the casino $492,754, netting himself $427,452, the indictment alleges.

Despite receiving income from subleases, the indictment alleges Amar and Feldman, as principals of Shai RI Inc., failed to file corporate tax returns in Rhode Island for 2016, 2017 and 2018. They also allegedly failed to report business income for those years and filed fraudulent personal income tax returns with the state. In addition, authorities allege Amar failed to file corporate tax returns in Rhode Island for 2016, 2017 and 2018, authorities allege.

“The crimes alleged in the indictment not only harm legitimate business owners, but hurt the business climate in our state,” Attorney General Peter F. Neronha said in a statement. “Illicit deals and the crimes alleged disadvantage those businesses who play by the rules and create an unfair competitive playing field. I appreciate the hard work of the Rhode Island State Police and their partnership during this investigation.”

Barlow is charged with four counts of accepting a bribe, three counts of obtaining property under false pretenses, three counts of conspiracy to obtain property under false pretenses, and two counts of casino gaming crimes/providing false information.

Feldman is charged with three counts of failure to file corporate tax, two counts of filing a fraudulent personal income tax return, and one count of failure to file a personal income tax return.

All three were scheduled to be arraigned in Providence County Superior Court on Tuesday. Contacted on Tuesday, Amar declined to comment.

g.smith@theday.com