Letters Asking Restaurants for $150 ‘Fee’ Spark Inquiry

When the official-looking letter arrived last week, Harold Jackle was about to write a check to pay the requested $150 restaurant inspection fee.

But Jackle, who owns two yogurt shops, was confused. It looked like a bill from the county, but it didn’t quite read like others he had paid in the past. So he called the county health department, touching off a fraud investigation that has targeted an Orange County businessman.

The district attorney’s office is investigating Ed Dart, who owns a hot dog-cart concession in Orange, for mailing letters to 4,400 restaurants seeking $150 for “1991 fees.” Dart has been told to cease the operation and has been warned that a complaint seeking an injunction will be filed unless he complies.

County officials said they believe that Dart is trying to deceive thousands of Orange County restaurants by sending letters similar to official bills sent by the county Health Care Agency.

Dart said in an interview that his business is a nonprofit operation that will supply consultants to small restaurants that need help handling county health inspections.

“It’s a nonprofit venture to help small businesses,” he said. “It’s not like I’m making a fortune on it. If I was making money, that’s another matter.”

The letters ask restaurant owners to pay $150 by May 31 to the Orange County Health Inspection Assn. so that they can receive assistance in meeting county standards.

At the top of the letters is a logo similar to the official seal for Orange County. But instead of Orange County Health Care Agency, it says Orange County Health Inspection Association, and the logo is an orange tree instead of the real seal’s oranges.

Almost 100 Orange County restaurant owners have complained to health officials. County officials are especially worried because the letters went out at almost the same time the health department sends its annual inspection bills to restaurants.

“If you look at the seal and notice the way it’s worded, it leads to confusion and misunderstanding that it is tied in with our governmental agency,” said James Huston, assistant director of Orange County’s environmental health division.

“Most restaurant owners who called were upset and confused by it,” he said. “They thought it was an official document. Some called it a ‘scam’ or ‘bogus.’ We’re still getting calls, and we tell people it has nothing to do with our governmental agency.”

The California Restaurant Assn., a trade group for restaurants, also is warning its members in a letter sent out this week not to confuse Dart’s letter with the county’s bill.

Dart contends that he tried to avoid any direct similarities with government documents but that he wanted to come across as well acquainted with the health department because he serves on the department’s Food Sanitation Advisory Council, an advisory committee of restaurant owners.

Dart said he would return the money to any restaurant that mistakenly thought it had paid a county agency. He said he received written responses from 65 restaurants, although he doesn’t know if all contained the $150 fee.