Police arrested Daniel Kaufman yesterday and charged him with identity theft and forgery for running customers’ credit cards through twice and pocketing the extra money—as much as $25,000 since February, and “cops say that Kaufman also attempted to steal $70,000 more,” reports the local Brooklyn Paper. Kaufman managed the Blue Pig ice cream shop as well as three other restaurants, and he took credit card slips from one business and ran them through at another.

According to neighborhood gossipers on the Brooklyn Heights Blog, which tipped us to the story, Kaufman has a bit of a reputation for being shady. Several of the commenters also report fraudulent charges on their own accounts after eating at one of Kaufman’s restaurants. Many of the reviews of Blue Pig online accuse it of using cheap factory-made ice cream and selling it as homemade, so maybe that was an early sign that honesty wasn’t a high priority for Blue Pig’s owners.

“Busted Chef; Heights food shop owner arrested on identity theft, forgery” [Brooklyn Paper]
(Photo: jere-me)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.