The co-owner of a New York delicatessen is alleging that her soon-to-be ex-husband leaked restaurant secretes to his mistress. The woman, age 63, is seeking restitution through the property division aspect of her divorce, as a growing trail of secrets leads to a conspiracy to spread her confidential recipes throughout the globe.

It all started when the woman’s husband began having an “open secret” affair with a woman from Thailand about a decade ago. The restaurant owner had no idea that the indiscretions were ongoing, but it appears that most of her employees, friends and social connections knew about the husband’s relationship.

Things took a turn for the worse in 2008, when the man permitted his mistress and her Thai relatives to visit the New Jersey plant where Carnegie’s Deli cures its meats and makes its cheesecakes. Shortly after that meeting, the Thai “delegation” returned home to open their own version of the restaurant without the woman’s permission. Further, the woman says she was shortchanged by staff members and her husband, who permitted his mistress to remain on the payroll even though she quit working at the restaurant years before.

The man is accused of frittering away the couple’s savings on his mistress, providing her with the funds to open her own restaurant and purchase an expensive house in Astoria. It was not until the woman hired a private detective that she was able to unravel the financial trail leading to the mistress. It is not clear how those financial missteps will impact the man’s share of the marital estate.

Now, the woman has gotten the rights to the restaurant, with her ex-husband entirely out of the picture. She is able to run the deli her way, without his interference and dishonesty. It is not clear whether that asset has been formerly surrendered through divorce proceedings, however, as the man simply walked away from work. Several lawsuits are expected to be filed during the property division phase of the divorce, as the couple attempts to split holdings from their 22-year marriage.

Source: nypost.com, “Carnegie Deli owner: Waitress stole my hubby, recipes” Isabel Vincent & Melissa Klein, Nov. 17, 2013