State officials said 29 bars and restaurants in New Jersey were found to be switching out authentic alcoholic beverages for cheap stuff, according to The Associated Press. The results of “Operation Swill” were released Thursday, highlighting the work done by New Jersey law enforcement for over year.
The investigation came to a climax Wednesday, when many of the spots committing the phony business, including 13 TGI Fridays, were raided. Authorities discovered one bar was selling a concoction culminating of caramel coloring and rubbing alcohol, passing it off as scotch. Another spot put dirty water into expensive liquor bottles. No illnesses were reported.
According to New Jersey state Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa, 1,000 bottles of gin, rum, tequila, whiskey, vodka and scotch were confiscated from the bar wells.
“This alleged scheme is a dishonest ruse to increase profits and is a slap in the face of the consumer,” he said.
The raided restaurants and bars have a long road ahead. They have been asked to submit records to help outline which customers were excessively charged and the amount by which they were overcharged. The establishments must also identify which employees were working the day investigators secretly took samples.
According to Michael Halfacre, director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the investigation began after the state started to get an unusual amount of complaints concerning supposed mislabeled drinks. The agency was aided in the fall of 2012 by an informant who was familiar with the industry.
In the first two months of 2013, investigators visited 63 restaurants and bars posing as patrons. They requested drinks without ice or mixers and collected samples in a clandestine manner.
Out of 150 samples, 30 were not as advertised.
The 13 TGI Fridays—owned by franchisee The Briad Group—will face internal investigations from TGI Fridays Inc.
All of the spots could possibly receive a liquor license suspension of lose the license all together.
