Restaurant operators charged in bribery

Restaurant operators charged in bribery

	Published : Fri, 29 Jun 2007 23:42 By : Agencies Print this Story

NEW YORK (AP) - Two restaurant owners were arrested for bribing health inspectors to overlook uncovered raw meat and mouse droppings at their establishments, investigators said Friday.

Undercover officers with the Department of Investigation, posing as city health inspectors, were offered bribes of $500 after pointing out several health code violations at H and V Restaurant and Hallal Restaurant, both in Brooklyn, the city agency said in a release.

At H and V, the officers found flies, mouse droppings near the stove and raw meat in the sink near pots and pans. The owner, Yank Ying Hu-Tan, gave the officers $500 to overlook the problems, investigators said. He was arrested June 22.

At the Hallal Restaurant, owner Shameem Chowdhury paid an undercover officer $500 to overlook uncovered meat in the refrigerator and other violations, the DOI said. Chowdhury was arrested Wednesday.

Two other restaurant operators were also charged in the investigation. Wahlong Kitchen employee Qixing Chen in Brooklyn paid $300 for investigators to overlook mouse droppings, roaches and flies. Chen was also arrested Wednesday on charges of bribery.

At the Yummy Restaurant in Queens, investigators determined that Ri Ying Zheng, the establishment's food protection certificate holder, was not at the restaurant though under terms of the city license she must be present whenever food is prepared. Zheng later appeared and paid $300 for inspectors to overlook her absence, the DOI said. She was arrested Friday.

All four were charged with third-degree bribery. Messages left at the restaurants were not immediately returned Friday. A DOI spokeswoman did not know if the suspects had lawyers. The Queens District Attorney's office said Zheng hadn't been arraigned yet, and the Brooklyn District Attorney's office didn't have information on their defense attorneys.

The arrests come after dozens of rats were videotaped crawling around a KFC/Taco Bell in New York. City health inspectors ordered the Manhattan fast-food eatery closed in February after the video, showing the rodents skittering across the floor, climbing on tables and roaming countertops in the early morning, was circulated worldwide on the Internet.

The inspector who had given that establishment a passing grade resigned before the release of two city reports that cited her 'lack of diligence' as well as systemic failures in the inspection system.