Paul Rojek, 56, and his son Joshua Rojek, 33, both cooked at Twin Trees Too restaurant in Syracuse, N.Y. Working quietly but steadily from February to November, the Rojeks schemed the restaurant out of $41,000 in chicken wings. And it was not the first time that Paul had been caught stealing chicken wings, reported TWC News.
Both men worked as cooks at the restaurant and would routinely place orders in the restaurant's name from its regular wholesale food supplier. The men would then pick up the order and sell them on the street or to other businesses at a low price and keep the money for themselves, reported the Associated Press. Allegedly, they also destroyed the receipts related to the orders, said Eater.
After noticing there were fewer chicken wings in the restaurant than the amount that had been ordered, the restaurant's management team hired a private investigator. When sufficient evidence against the Rojeks had been collected, it was brought to the attention of the local police, reported Consumerist.
This crime brings to light the concerning existence of a meat-product black market, which cheats restaurant owners and endangers customers, noted Consumerist.
Dan Ross, the manager of the restaurant, said the restaurant struggled financially because of the ongoing theft. Though he knew of the pair's criminal past, enough trust had been established between them to merit hiring them anyway, reported TCW News.
"I'm more bothered by the fact he would do this to my family, my family business, my father, which makes it all the worse because it bothered him a lot, especially since he put so much trust in this guy and took him back in and helped him out," explained Ross.
The pair was charged this week with grand larceny and falsifying business records, reported KRON 4.
