Two Department of Public Health employees tasked with making sure restaurant employees know how to properly handle your food have been accused of soliciting bribes in exchange for faking documents that ensure every restaurant has a certified Food Safety Manager on staff. A city investigation in to the fake certifications discovered hundreds of falsely certified restaurant managers.
As Bay City News reports, DPH revoked all the fake certifications after a restaurant worker reported the scam in which inspectors Ajamu Stewart and Clifton Sanders were allegedly asking for $100 to $200 per restaurant to issue fake certifications and fudge records saying that Food Safety Managers had actually taken the required test. The District Attorney's office has decided not to file charges against all of the restaurant workers, whose fake certificates were issued between 2007 and 2008, claiming the real problem lies with the city employees.
Stewart and Sanders, the accused inspectors, were arrested earlier in the month and are both currently looking at felony charges of bribery, falsification of public records and perjury. If convicted, the pair could be doing eight or nine years in a state pen for the scheme.
The certification program, by the way, only costs $132 and 8 hours of your time for the necessary classes and exam. So it's not like these restauranteurs were even getting a good deal out of this whole thing.
