A Mississippi seafood restaurant tricked diners hook, line and sinker into telling them the fish they were eating was fresh, when in fact it was imported frozen food.
Despite the restaurant’s location in Biloxi, the city with a thriving commercial fishing industry, the only catch the owners got came from the van as tons of frozen food were brought into the kitchens ready to be served.
Restaurant patrons at Mary Mahoney’s Old French House Restaurant, a Biloxi landmark since it opened in 1964, were none the wiser and never suspected anything strange was going on behind closed doors.
Instead, they took to social media to brag about the latest catch they enjoyed at the legendary location, believing it came straight from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Mary Mahoney admits to selling foreign frozen fish as fresh seafood caught locally
The Biloxi restaurant will forfeit $1.35 million after defrauding customers
Federal prosecutors allege, and the restaurant has confessed, that it purchased the seafood from an unknown local Biloxi supplier and misrepresented it to unsuspecting customers, thereby robbing them.
The restaurant has now agreed to forfeit $1.35 million to the federal government after pleading guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to defraud customers by mislabeling seafood and wire fraud.
Co-owner Anthony “Tony” Cvitanovich also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to mislabel seafood.
From 2013 to November 2019, when federal agents raided the restaurant, Mahoney’s purchased more than 29 tons of lake bass, tripletail, triggerfish and unicorn filefish from Africa, India or South America.
According to government allegations, the fish were falsely sold as premium Gulf red snapper, snapper and rockfish.
But it looked more like red herring than red snapper.
From 2013 to November 2019, Mahoney’s affected customers said they received fresh fish while it was frozen and purchased in Africa, India or South America
Between 2013 and 2019, the restaurant misrepresented more than 29 tons of fish. In the photo, inside
“The conspirators thereby profited from the sale of seafood that would not have been as marketable or profitable if its true species and origin had been known,” federal prosecutors say in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi.
About 15 to 20 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agents raided the restaurant in the early morning of 2019. They asked employees to leave just as they were getting ready for lunch.
At the time, Cvitanovich speculated that the investigation was related to fish, but he had dismissed the matter as trivial, not realizing how serious the alleged crimes were.
Despite the accusations of bait-and-switch, it appeared to be “business as usual” at the historic restaurant after the settlement.
Bobby Mahoney, the restaurant’s co-owner and public face, has not been charged and would not comment on the allegations.
The restaurant, founded by the late Mary Mahoney and her brother Andrew Cvitanovich, has been passed down to their heirs.
Guests have been dining in the restaurant since it opened in 1964
The restaurant is something of a local landmark in the area
Attorney Michael Cavanaugh described the misbranding of fish as “a mistake.”
‘They made a mistake. It was resolved. They move on,” he told the Clarion General Ledger.
Anthony Cvitanovich remains free on unsecured bail awaiting sentencing in September. He faces up to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Gulfport attorney Tim Holleman, who represented Cvitanovich, said discussions with the federal government about the inaccurate menu descriptions had been going on for five years.
“Over the past five years, we have had extensive discussions with the federal government regarding inaccurate entree descriptions of a particular item on our menu,” Holleman said. “This problem was immediately resolved five years ago.”
“Mary Mahoney’s will continue to do what we have done best since 1964, serving our valued customers with impeccable service. We pride ourselves on serving the highest quality steaks and seafood in a beautifully preserved historic home.”
Mary Mahoney’s continues to operate with a commitment to serving high-quality steaks and seafood in a historic setting.
The FDA, which regulates food safety and runs a mandatory fish inspection program, underscored the seriousness of the crime.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Todd W. Gee issued a statement emphasizing that customers deserve to get what they pay for and that mislabeling and defrauding customers are serious violations, hoping the case will chilling effect on other restaurants and seafood suppliers.
“When people spend their hard-earned dollars to enjoy the incredible local seafood on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, they should get what they paid for, not frozen fish from overseas.
‘Mislabelling food and deceiving customers are serious crimes, and this case will convince restaurants and seafood suppliers that it is not worth lying to customers about what is on the menu.’
Recent reviews for the restaurant are in decidedly average taste, with the venue swimming against the tide of public opinion.
“Although this restaurant has a good reputation on the Gulf Coast, it appears that this is what attracts the business and not the quality of the food,” one person wrote on TripAdvisor.
‘Food was tasteless. Too expensive for what you get,” another added.
‘Highly overrated, and were very disappointed. The side dish was unimaginative and the snapper was dry. Definitely not worth the hype or the extortionate price for a mediocre meal,” one diner wrote in April.
‘The chicken pieces tasted like canned chicken. My husband got a steak with a crab cake. He said it was underseasoned and the crab cake also tasted canned,” another restaurant visitor reviewed in February.