04/24/2008

News / DOI ARRESTS RESTAURATEUR ON BRIBERY CHARGE

- Tip from City Health inspector triggered DOI undercover investigation –
- $260 bribe to overlook Health Code violations is charged -
ROSE GILL HEARN, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (DOI),
announced today the felony arrest of TSEN BIN SI, 31, a restaurant operator in Queens, for paying a
$260 bribe yesterday to a DOI undercover investigator who posed as a City Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) inspector. SI allegedly paid off the purported inspector to avoid receiving
summonses for Health Code violations. The defendant was charged with Bribery in the Third Degree,
a Class D felony. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison.
SI’s arrest resulted from a City Health inspector’s report to DOI that the manager of the King
Wok Restaurant, 108-29 Ascan Avenue Forest Hills, Queens, allegedly had offered him a bribe.
Yesterday, a DOI undercover investigator, posing as a Health inspector, visited the establishment,
where SI’s name and photo were displayed on its Food Protection Certificate. According to the
criminal complaint, when the investigator showed SI several Health Code violations, including mouse
droppings, uncovered food in a refrigerator, and employees who wore no gloves while preparing food,
SI asked how much money he could pay and then gave the investigator $260 to overlook the
violations.
Commissioner Gill Hearn said, “Paying off a City Health inspector to overlook a restaurant
violation is not a smart move. It’s a crime punishable by a prison sentence. Because corruption of
Health inspections could harm the public, DOI investigators have spoken with all Health inspectors
and have instructed them to report all bribe offers to DOI. This case shows that the message has
been received, and the Health inspector who stood up for his own integrity is to be commended. I
pledge DOI’s continued even-handed enforcement of the laws prohibiting corruption.”
Commissioner Gill Hearn thanked the DOHMH Commissioner, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, for
encouraging his agency’s employees to cooperate with DOI.
The investigation was conducted by DOI’s Inspector General for DOHMH, Christopher
Staackmann, and members of his staff, with assistance from the DOI Investigative Squad.
The case will be prosecuted by Queens County District Attorney Richard A. Brown’s Public
Integrity Bureau.
2
Criminal complaints are merely accusations. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven
guilty.
DOI is one of the oldest law-enforcement agencies in the country. The agency investigates and refers
for prosecution City employees and contractors engaged in corrupt or fraudulent activities or unethical conduct.
Investigations may involve any agency, officer, elected official or employee of the City, as well as those who do
business with or receive benefits from the City.
Get the worms out of the Big Apple.
To report someone ripping off the city, call 311 or DOI directly at (212) 825-5959.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doi/pdf/pr33bin_si_dohbribery_41808.pdf

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