The preliminary judgment prohibits Lynch from removing or transferring funds, “or otherwise encumbering” her accounts at Eastern Bank, Bank of America, Santander Bank, Citizens Bank, Commerce Bank, TD Bank, Winchester Savings Bank, and Winchester Co-Operative Bank.
The city sued Lynch in 2024 for failing to pay personal property taxes across her seven Boston restaurants, all of which have since shuttered. Earlier this summer, the city won that lawsuit. Lynch has made no payments toward the sum she owes, which has continued to grow as interest has accrued, according to court documents.
In an interview with the Globe Friday afternoon, Lynch said the city would find nowhere close to the amount she owes in her bank accounts.
“There’s no money to be had. If they freeze my accounts, great,” she said. “$2,000 is what I have left. I mean, I’m literally living on Social Security right now.”
The city’s request was filed ex parte, meaning Lynch was not involved in the initial hearing. The city made because it was “certain that notification” of the motion would cause Lynch “to remove all funds” in the accounts, “as she has been less than cooperative” during the proceedings and has made no effort to pay down her balance.
Lynch said she only learned of the freeze when she heard about it from a Globe reporter.
“I just give up. I’m giving up. I’ve fought too many battles. I can’t fight this one,” she said, adding that she can’t afford lawyers. “I don’t know what they’re gonna do with me. What can you do with me? Arrest me?”
The news, first reported by website Universal Hub, comes amid the start of a culinary comeback for Lynch, who has recently hosted private dinners at her studio in Manchester-by-the-Sea, and plans to soon launch cooking trips and a cookbook subscription series. The James Beard Award-winning chef was once at the vanguard of the Boston food scene, with restaurants including No. 9 Park, Menton, and B&G Oysters.
But in 2023, an article in the Globe found that empire belied a darker reality, with many employees claiming inappropriate behavior by Lynch, accusations she denied. She subsequently closed all of her restaurants, citing, in part, the financial struggle of the post-pandemic restaurant industry.
“We had no idea when we were closing the restaurants that we were going to be sued for 900 — what is it? $900,000 or something?” she said Friday.
“Quite frankly, I just don’t understand it,” she said. “Where does the tax money go? Where does that $900,000 go to that I owe for property, for my equipment that I don’t even own anymore?”
In its filings, the city said it believed “there are sufficient funds” in her accounts to “partially or fully satisfy the amount due,” and said Lynch “purposefully has either shielded assets or dissipated assets.” It pointed to recent influxes of cash it said Lynch had received, including from the nearly $2 million sale of her Gloucester home in 2024 and a corresponding estate sale, the sale of a liquor license and restaurant furniture, and the recent $375-per-ticket dinners she has hosted, according to filings.
The city also alleged Lynch “was found to have comingled personal funds and business funds and thus was found to have violated the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act.”
A hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 10, according to the court docket.
Dana Gerber can be reached at dana.gerber@globe.com. Follow her @danagerber6.
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