Federal authorities have seized the iconic Crescent Beach Restaurant property of Katherine Mott-Formicola, the restaurateur embroiled in civil and criminal litigation.

Mott-Formicola is accused in a civil lawsuit of defrauding Five Star Bank out of millions of dollars. She pleaded guilty earlier this month in federal court to criminal charges of financial institution fraud and money laundering.

As part of her plea deal, Mott-Formicola surrendered the Crescent Beach property as partial restitution for her crimes.

On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Frank P. Geraci Jr. filed a preliminary order for the U.S. Attorney to take possession of the Edgemere Drive site.

Mott-Formicola acquired the long-vacant lakeside restaurant last year and began renovations. She had hoped to reopen the landmark property by spring of this year.

Shuttered for more than a decade, Crescent Beach was once a revered destination for dining and special events.

Mott-Formicola, four business associates and nine of her hospitality ventures are named as defendants in a lawsuit filed by Five Star Bank.

She has a stake in numerous business entities including: KRM Events LLC; Monroe's Restaurant; the Divinity Estate and Chapel LLC, located at the former Colgate Divinity School; The Wintergarden by Monroes, located at the Legacy Building in downtown Rochester; Monroes at Ridgemont LLC, an event venue at the Ridgemont Country Club; and Crescent Beach at the Lake LLC, a restaurant being renovated.

Five Star accuses the parties of operating a check-kiting scheme that allegedly cost the publicly traded financial institution $18.9 million.

The bank, in court papers, contends the defendants executed a financial juggling act and never had funds sufficient to cover the checks being written against their accounts.

According to the plea agreement, the maximum penalty for financial institution fraud is 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, plus five years of post-release supervision.

The maximum penalty for the money laundering charge is 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine, or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater, plus three years of post-release supervision.

Mott-Formicola admitted that she perpetrated a check kiting scheme involving more than 500 checks that defrauded Five Star out of $21 million.

Five Star was able to recover some funds from Mott-Formicola's other holdings and ultimately suffered a loss of about $19 million.