
Bowl bribery scheme
COURIER LIFE, D 6 ECEMBER 17-23, 2021
Mill Basin restaurateurs
busted in bizarre Super
Gourmet Grill and Frozen Planet Yogurt in Mill Basin, two businesses involved in the alleged
bribery scheme. Google
BY BEN BRACHFELD
Three men who own businesses in
Mill Basin were indicted Monday on
bribery charges as part of a wacky
scheme where they promised health
inspectors a spot in a lucrative Super
Bowl betting pool, in exchange for getting
advance notice of future annual
health inspections, the Brooklyn District
Attorney announced.
Brothers John and Jack DiSanto of
Bergen Beach, and their cousin Robert
Cuba of Staten Island, are named in
the suit, wherein they paid out $16,000
to an undercover agent as a result of
his winnings in the betting pool, after
that agent was tipped off by a colleague
when offered an initial bribe.
“It is alleged that these defendants
attempted to corrupt and circumvent
Health Department protocols that are
in place for a reason: to ensure sanitary
conditions and protect the public,”
Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez said
in a statement. “I commend the city
employee who, when allegedly offered
a bribe, reported it to the Department
of Investigation. We will now seek to
hold the defendants accountable.”
The three of them all own separate
businesses in Mill Basin: John DiSanto
owns the casual American eatery Gourmet
Grill on Avenue N, while his brother
Jack owns Frozen Planet Yogurt two
doors down. Across the street, Mill Basin
Bagel Cafe is owned by Cuba.
The saga began in January 2020
when, the DA alleges, John DiSanto
texted a Health Department employee
seeking advance notice of annual
health inspections — which are conducted
unannounced so restaurateurs
don’t run their businesses differently
than normal ahead of time — in exchange
for a free spot in a betting pool
for the upcoming Super Bowl between
the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas
City Chiefs.
The employee immediately squealed
to the city’s Department of Investigation,
which assigned an undercover
agent to conduct further communications
with DiSanto, under the guise of
a rank-and-fi le Health Department employee.
DiSanto told the agent that he
would give him two free “boxes” in the
betting pool, normally a $1,000 value,
which could ultimately net him a cool
$50,000 if all went well. The scoffl aw
ultimately asked for at least a week’s
notice for annual health inspections,
for his business as well as his brother’s
and cousin’s.
“You’ll have your sets of numbers
and if you hit, you come see me and
you come collect,” DiSanto said to the
undercover agent in a recorded conversation.
“And if you don’t hit, you’re
in it next year.”
He went on to promise the agent a
permanent spot in the betting pool in
exchange for the tipoffs.
“We do get nervous, I’m going to
admit it,” the nogoodnik said, as alleged
by the DA. “We wanna get it over
with because it’s kind of a little taxing
for us. So, if they don’t come, then we
get mad because we prepare and then
we have to reprepare, and so you just
gotta give me the heads up.”
DiSanto would ultimately say he
wanted to be friends with the undercover
agent, and that he wanted him to
win the betting pool.
“I want you to become friends with
me. I want you to meet my brother…I
want you to win,” DiSanto said to the
agent, as relayed in quotes released by
the DA’s offi ce. “Because I want you to
be comfortable, I want you to be like,
I’m excited to help these people. That’s
what I want.”
The undercover agent agreed to the
deal, and while he didn’t win the ultimate
jackpot, he still cleaned up with
$16,000 in winnings — plus a $4,000
sweetener to ensure the arrangement
continued.
Gourmet Grill currently holds an A
rating from the Department of Health
after its most recent health inspection
on Aug. 3. Frozen Planet Yogurt and
Mill Basin Bagel Cafe also have A ratings.
The DiSantos and Cuba were released
without bail and are due back
in court on Jan. 19.