Woodbury Man Tried to Bribe Undercover Investigator to Ignore Code Violations in Restaurants: DOI

A Queens restaurant owner from Woodbury was recently arrested for trying bribe an undercover investigator to ignore multiple code violations found at his restaurant, according to the New York City Department of Investigation (DOI)

On Tuesday, Mohammad Safi, 62, was charged with two counts of third degree bribery.

If convicted, he could face up to seven years in prison.

Earlier this year, a Department of Health and Mental Hygiene inspector was conducting a routine inspection of Farm Fried N Curry Chicken on 120-20 Merrick Boulevard.

After pointing out multiple violations, Safi said he had something for the inspector to make it go away and handed the inspector an envelope, according to the DOI.

The inspector refused the envelope and reported the incident to DOI.

In May 2016, a DOI undercover investigator went into the restaurant posing as a health inspector and observed multiple violations including uncovered garbage cans, a broken sink faucet, and staff touching food with their bare hands, according to the DOI.

After the undercover investigator told Safi about the Health Code violations, he gave the investigator an envelope with $200 in cash and asked him to give him an “A” despite the violations, according to the DOI.

Safi was among three New York City restaurant owners to be arrested for attempting to bribe undercover investigators.

“DOI’s investigation found that these defendants were as dirty as their restaurants, offering bribes to health inspectors to look the other way at their eateries’ unsanitary conditions, according to the charges," DOI Commissioner Mark G. Peters said. "However, in New York City, you can’t clean up a dirty restaurant with a bribe. DOI will continue to pursue unscrupulous business owners and operators who try to corrupt City employees for their own interests.”