Chef, Butcher at Upscale Dubai Hotel Accused of Taking Bribes

The head chef and the butcher at the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai was in court Sunday, charged with taking nearly $250,000 in kickbacks in return for buying poor-quality food at inflated prices from four suppliers.

According to The National newspaper, the chef confessed that he and the butcher were approached by two foreign chefs after he was promoted to head chef.  The two chefs– one from Italy and a pastry-maker from Austria– reportedly told them to only purchase food from four suppliers no matter what the price or quality was.

The Italian and the Austrian have since been deported.

Among the accusations– the butcher allowed “substandard” fish to be served, in some instances passing off frozen seafood as fresh.

The irregularities occurred between April 2008 and March 2010.