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Sandra Yi ReportingCarmen Voegeli: "We were providing a great service to him as well by coming in there every day as patrons and purchasing food from his establishment. It's very much a betrayal to us as well."
Drugs, theft and chicken. The owner of a downtown restaurant arrested earlier this week for selling drugs is now being accused of credit card fraud.
KSL was first to bring you the story of Mahbod Fari. On Tuesday police busted his restaurant, BC Chicken, and arrested him for dealing drugs over the counter. Now a Utah couple says he stole their credit card.
Shock turned to anger when the victim saw surveillance video from two different stores, including a Home Depot. He says the man he saw using his credit card is someone he never would have suspected.
Eric Voegeli: "There were all these charges on our account that we didn't make."
That's when Eric Voegeli and his wife did some detective work.
Eric Voegeli: "We got on our computer and we mapped the places where the transactions occurred on our account."
The thief hit a downtown store first and spent 10 dollars there. The manager let Voegeli look at surveillance video that caught the suspect in the act.
Eric Voegeli: "And I went in a couple of days after the event and watched the video, and it was him, right off the bat."
To his surprise, Voegeli recognized the man in the video. Police can't confirm it, but the suspect bears a strong resemblance to Mahbod Fari, who owns a chicken eatery downtown.Fari was busted this week after police got a tip that he was serving heroine and cocaine over the counter. Voegeli is convinced it's him.
Eric Voegeli: "I was stunned, couldn't believe it. This was a guy that I talked to on a regular basis, knew, considered to be a casual friend. I was shocked."
Voegeli was a regular customer at BC Chicken and ate there on September 26th. He left his card there and didn't realize it. In less than two hours someone hit six different stores and charged 360 dollars on his debit card, and forged his name on receipts.
Police say they can't investigate until a merchant reports the theft, but when the amounts are small, the stores often choose to take the loss. The manager of Broadway Pharmacy and Groceries says it's more cost-effective. That's frustrating for the Voegeli's, who want justice.
Carmen Voegeli: "Watch your transactions on your bank accounts. Be very careful about your card. Make sure you're signing your transactions and double checking them on your bank accounts."
We want to point out again that police have not named Fari a suspect in this case. Fari has bailed out of jail. I talked to him on the phone today and offered to show him the surveillance photos. He didn't want to see them and said he's never used anyone's credit card. He also declined to comment on the drug bust this week. BC Chicken is still closed.
