Two Miami-Dade County health inspectors were arrested on accusations that they fabricated violations to extort bribes from restaurant owners, officials said Wednesday.
In total, Charles Bryant II and Craig Bethel extorted $14,620 from 15 businesses, Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said during a press briefing Wednesday afternoon.
Both men, who worked for Miami-Dade Department of Environmental Resources Management, are accused of making up bogus health violations and threatening the businesses with shutting them down if they didn’t pay them money.
“Just think about how they felt,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said at the briefing, referencing the restaurant owners. “They felt like they were being robbed.”…