New co-owners to take over the Towne House restaurant as Jasiel Correia's wife steps aside

FALL RIVER — New co-owners will be joining the team at the Towne House on Purchase Street, and former restaurant owner and manager Jenny Correia, wife of Jasiel Correia II, will move on to concentrate on her jewelry company, according to the establishment’s attorney, Arthur Frank.

“Jenny no longer works for any of the companies that fall under the Towne House brand,” said Frank. “She’s going on to work for her jewelry company, and they are going to redouble their efforts at the restaurant business.”

According to Jenny Correia's website for her company, JTJ Jewelry, she is maintaining the Towne House building at 37 Purchase St.

Paulo Filogenio and his wife, Ariane De Carvalho, of Fall River will co-own the Purchase Street venue with Luis Bettencourt and his wife, Rosa Fernandes, who also own the BarCa Restaurant on Columbia Street.

Bettencourt is Jenny Correia’s stepfather, and Fernandes is her mother.

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“Luis and Rosa are experienced restaurant owners and Paulo and Ariane are experienced business people,” said Frank. “It looks like a really good fit for the four of them.”

According to the Massachusetts Secretary of State online corporation database, Filogenio and De Carvalho own the Fall River-based Better Homes Construction and Oakville Investments Corporation.

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Correia was home for the holidays to work at Towne House

Correia is expected to report to a New Hampshire federal prison on April 22 to serve a six-year sentence for government corruption after he was elected the city’s youngest mayor in 2015 and for defrauding investors in his company, SnoOwl and tax evasion before he became mayor.

Towne House, with its multi-venue restaurants, bars and a private cigar-smoking club under one roof, became known outside of Fall River when Correia successfully convinced U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock to delay turning himself in to the Federal Correctional Institution in Berlin, New Hampshire, on Dec. 3 to help out his in-laws at Towne House during the holiday season.

Woodlock has granted Correia seven delays to report to prison, some due to the COVID pandemic and others related to his appeal of his federal conviction. On Monday, Woodlock denied Correia’s request to stay out of prison until his appeal is resolved.

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He has the ability to appeal that denial to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

Frank said Correia was also no longer an employee at the Purchase Street restaurant.

“While Jasiel was an employee there, I believe last year, he was never an officer or director of the business,” said Frank.

Correia and his wife were married last August, after his May federal conviction and before his September sentencing. The couple held their reception a the high-end restaurant complex.

Transferring licenses and corporation principals

He’s working on transferring the liquor licenses that are currently under Jenny Correia’s name with the city’s Board of Licensing and the state’s incorporation documents.

Board of Licensing confirmed that Jenny Correia is still listed as the manager for the Towne House and the private 100 Club Bar, the business’s second-floor cigar bar.

A check of the corporation database shows Correia, under her maiden name Fernandes, is still listed as the manager of the Towne House corporate name, RLJ Group.

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The database also lists Jenny Correia as a clerk and director of the 100 Club Bar’s corporate name, the nonprofit Portuguese American Society.

Also listed as a director of the Portuguese American Society is Correia’s mother, Maria Correia.

Frank said Correia’s mother’s name will also be removed as a principal in the nonprofit corporation.

In the articles of incorporation for the Portuguese American Society, the nonprofit's mission is to encourage cultural, civic and social activities “to preserve and strengthen the traditional Portuguese-American heritage of its members” as well as soliciting gifts and contributions of money for various reasons, including dispersing scholarships to youth in Fall River.

As a non-profit, the high-end private club would not be subject to real estate property taxes, according to the Board of Assessor's office. However, it could be responsible to pay for personal property taxes.

According to the assessor's office, they have no listing in their database for 100 Club Bar.

Jo C. Goode may be reached at jgoode@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism and subscribe to The Herald News today!

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Towne House gets new co-owners; Jasiel Correia and wife Jenny are out