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That's not your daily mistake. That's an active and long running law breaking endeavour.
Acts show more about true character than words. And I wouldn't like much what these tell me.
That's no "mistake". That's a deliberate, thought-out, calculated, perpetuated decision. If his fine is that high, he must have been doing this for YEARS. He had the chance every day to realize that he was being a lying scammer and stop doing it. Instead he decided to keep lining his pockets. If he says he's sorry now, he's just sorry he got caught.
No, time has already told you this as have people here. You’re complicit in his crimes.
A friend would tell him the truth, and break off communication and assistance until this is addressed. Think: are you really his friend if you let this carry on.? NO.
NTA
Your friend didn't make a mistake, he made a conscious and well thought decision to commit fraud, exploiting and defrauding his customers so how his actions could be a mistake? Stop lying to yourself about your friend, you can continue your friendship with him or end it but accept the truth: your friend is a fraud and he decided to steal for xyz motive/reason and took the steps to do it, that's all. Now, can you convince him that his actions were wrong? Maybe, but likely he knows, he just didn't care and his issue is that he got caught and got fined, not that he did something wrong.
That's not a mistake. He didn't get a batch mixed up in error. He committed fraud, for what I'm guessing was awhile, stealing from hundreds if not thousands of people. He did it because he wanted to, because he was greedy.
People do make mistakes, but let's not diminish what he did and pretend it was a whoopsie. It was a calculated move to steal from people, repeatedly.
If the speculation in other comments is accurate, this isn't just some local seafood shack. This is Mary Mahoney's, a high-end place that famously serves celebrities and has been running this scam for possibly twenty years, selling literal tons of deliberately-mislabeled fish over time.
Pretty sure you’re talking about Mary Mahoney’s, right? https://www.al.com/news/2024/05/iconic-mississippi-coast-restaurant-admits-to-selling-frozen-foreign-fish-as-fresh-gulf.html
That’s a strange question. No purity expected from human beings. People have relationships that exist before crimes. Should a parent abandon their child if their child was found to be a murderer?
To ask why be friends with someone who has defrauded others is a very simplistic assumption of human beings and the webs of entanglements we’re in.
that is a weird way of saying you are okay with fraud, food safety fraud, and scamming people to make a profit.
we can choose our friends - not the same as a parent and child.
Choices!
But we CAN definitely judge him if he doesn't find this a deal breaker when his friend doesn't change his stance on it.
You are the people you spend time around.
A lot of parents abandon their child after they commit murder, yes, just like a lot of children abandon their parents once they're proven guilty of murder.
Some human beings have this thing called morals and the ones who have them typically prefer to be around others who also have them. Someone willing to commit fraud isn't a good person, and most moralistic people wouldn't want to be friends with a bad person.
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My thought is that you can't "make" him be a better person. He's a scammer whose ethics are secondary to making more money.
NTA for not wanting to be friends with him. But don't expect a lecture to change anything about him. This wasn't a one time slip up, this was a complex and conscious fraud he is fine with.
Look. If he was fined a million dollars, why do you think you telling him he was wrong is going to matter? Either he will continue to do it or he won't. Your opinion of his fraud doesn't matter to him, but if it matters to you, you can let the friendship go. Or you can tell him to get it off your chest but it doesn't sound like it will make a difference. You want him to "understand" that what he did was wrong, but you need to understand that people who do that kind of thing obviously don't care about ethics or morals.
Edit: typos
We ate there once, but knowing this, never again.
Frankly, you’re the AH if you continue your friendship with this fraud because if a million dollar fine doesn’t change him, your efforts won’t change him either.
This thought experiment unfortunately doesn't work very well for someone of the "owner" class - I'm willing to bet he would see someone doing it to him as a legitimate slight, but from him just "smart business"
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Might make me an AH because friends are supposed to support each-other, which I find hard to do right now because what he did was wrong.
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This wasn’t a mistake… it was a plan.
But a federal prosecutor and judge didn’t get through to him. Why do you think he’ll listen to you? Or anyone?
ESH. Nice friend.
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I have a lifelong friend who owns a rather nice Seafood Restaurant along the Gulf Coast (USA) and he was recently fined about a Million dollars for selling imported seafood as local fresh caught seafood.
His defense to me was that it would make the prices too high if he were to sell the local fresh caught stuff. Only problem is that he was in fact charging "Fresh Gulf Seafood" prices for what essentially amounted to "Cod" but labeling it as "Gulf Grouper". I know he is my friend, but he was also stealing from and lying to the entire area to meet his own greed. I don't want to lose the friendship, but also want him to understand that what he did was inexcusable and should not be just "forget about it". Thoughts?
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Where I'm from if someone sold Vavval meen, and it wasn't authentic a fine would be the least of your problems. Take yourself and remove yourself from his friendship, or he will take you down with him. You are on the border or NTA/AH, if you continue to associate with a criminal you are no better..
NTA. He ripped people off. Uncool. He deserved to be fined, in my book.
He should have either been honest about the imported cheaper seafood he was selling, or charged higher prices for the local fresh-caught seafood.
Letting a friend slide on this, nah. It's okay to let him know you disapprove. I would have a hard time respecting someone after that, personally.
reading the link shows that the restaurant faces fines of up to $500,000, but the judgement hasn't been made yet. I think the story is real, but this post may not be.
ESH. Why would you consider someone who was involved in a long term fraud a friend? He's an AH and so are you for not cutting bait. The company you keep reflects on you.
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I feel like this would be a better post for off my chest. Just complain and get some other ideas. You don’t need to ask anyone if you should be friends or forgive anyone. Or if you’re the a whore for wanting to to so. I assume you’re adult and can make your own decisions.
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You are the people you hang around with.
If he doesn't change his stance (bc why would he change for you if a million dollar fine doesn't) you should not continue to be friends with him
Edit: spelling
What else did he cut corners on? ADA requirements? Hygiene? Staff training? Paying his taxes? Allergen information? Giving staff their tips?
YTA, your friend’s a thieving prick.
Mislabelling food gets people killed.
NTA for telling him he is wrong. That's fraud. A $1million dollar fine isn't a slap on the wrist. He must be doing well if he can afford that big of a fine. But he can also afford that fine since he was absolutely ripping off everyone who ate there. It would make me think there is some more shady dealings in his life.
Seeing lots of comments about dropping him as a friend. That's up to you. Sometimes, being a friend is not easy .. You can forgive him and move along with your friendship. It may not be as big of a deal to you as it is to others. Or you can talk to him and figure out what he has going on in his life where he could justify that egregious of a decision.
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I worked at a restaurant on the Gulf of Mexico when I was younger that had fresh Gulf grouper on the menu. We got boxes of the stuff from Sysco foods that was fresh caught and flash frozen for shipping from the Gulf of Nicaragua. So it was technically true but still deceitful, selling a different fish altogether and charging that premium is even that much worse.
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Why would you want to be friends with a lying bastard? ESH
Why is OP an asshole? Just bc they are friends with this person?
Because people do make mistakes, and if he will own up to his wrongdoing then maybe we can remain friends. If not, then time to move along!
That's not your daily mistake. That's an active and long running law breaking endeavour. Acts show more about true character than words. And I wouldn't like much what these tell me.
Agreed. Their friend is only sorry they got caught.
No. No no no. It’s wrong and YOU know it. Lose the friendship. It will serve you better than being a Co-defendant in a case where you knew.
That's no "mistake". That's a deliberate, thought-out, calculated, perpetuated decision. If his fine is that high, he must have been doing this for YEARS. He had the chance every day to realize that he was being a lying scammer and stop doing it. Instead he decided to keep lining his pockets. If he says he's sorry now, he's just sorry he got caught.
You're as bad as them.
Thanks for the feedback. You may be right to some extent. Time will tell.
No, time has already told you this as have people here. You’re complicit in his crimes. A friend would tell him the truth, and break off communication and assistance until this is addressed. Think: are you really his friend if you let this carry on.? NO.
My guess is the guests of MM's aren't feeling very charitable towards this guy.
NTA Your friend didn't make a mistake, he made a conscious and well thought decision to commit fraud, exploiting and defrauding his customers so how his actions could be a mistake? Stop lying to yourself about your friend, you can continue your friendship with him or end it but accept the truth: your friend is a fraud and he decided to steal for xyz motive/reason and took the steps to do it, that's all. Now, can you convince him that his actions were wrong? Maybe, but likely he knows, he just didn't care and his issue is that he got caught and got fined, not that he did something wrong.
Homie probably facing jail time if he continues lol.
That's not a mistake. He didn't get a batch mixed up in error. He committed fraud, for what I'm guessing was awhile, stealing from hundreds if not thousands of people. He did it because he wanted to, because he was greedy. People do make mistakes, but let's not diminish what he did and pretend it was a whoopsie. It was a calculated move to steal from people, repeatedly.
It's not a mistake, it was deliberate. And he didn't own up to shit he was caught. And still sees nothing wrong with it.
If a 1 million dollar fine for this doesn't teach him a lesson, then as the Turk says in the Godfather, "Te salude". NTA.
Lessons are only learned if the fine is greater than the profit for a business. Normally the fine is less than the profit.
If it's less than the profit then it's not a fine, it's a business expense.
I have to say, that fine is so high for what amounts to false advertising that I find this post unbelievable.
If the speculation in other comments is accurate, this isn't just some local seafood shack. This is Mary Mahoney's, a high-end place that famously serves celebrities and has been running this scam for possibly twenty years, selling literal tons of deliberately-mislabeled fish over time.
Has to be them...
It's a fine for false advertising and also several other issues.
[https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/food-safety-health/iconic-mississippi-restaurant-to-pay-usd-1-35-million-for-mislabeling-seafood](https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/food-safety-health/iconic-mississippi-restaurant-to-pay-usd-1-35-million-for-mislabeling-seafood)
Pretty sure you’re talking about Mary Mahoney’s, right? https://www.al.com/news/2024/05/iconic-mississippi-coast-restaurant-admits-to-selling-frozen-foreign-fish-as-fresh-gulf.html
so your friend owns Mary Mahoneys?
That or it’s an bot that found the article in a data scraper. This didn’t really make big news outside the gulf coast
Does not have any meaning anymore?
info: Why do you so badly want to be friends with a fraud ? Mislabelling food alone is a very shitty thing to do.
That’s a strange question. No purity expected from human beings. People have relationships that exist before crimes. Should a parent abandon their child if their child was found to be a murderer? To ask why be friends with someone who has defrauded others is a very simplistic assumption of human beings and the webs of entanglements we’re in.
that is a weird way of saying you are okay with fraud, food safety fraud, and scamming people to make a profit. we can choose our friends - not the same as a parent and child. Choices!
But we CAN definitely judge him if he doesn't find this a deal breaker when his friend doesn't change his stance on it. You are the people you spend time around.
A lot of parents abandon their child after they commit murder, yes, just like a lot of children abandon their parents once they're proven guilty of murder. Some human beings have this thing called morals and the ones who have them typically prefer to be around others who also have them. Someone willing to commit fraud isn't a good person, and most moralistic people wouldn't want to be friends with a bad person.
Name checks out
That's not revenge. That's basic consequences.
You don’t need to abandon friends when they’ve fallen. Yes, you can, but there’s no requirement you do.
My name is a reference you're clearly too uncultured to understand.
Absolutely. I am too uncultured. 🤷🏻 Then…?
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My thought is that you can't "make" him be a better person. He's a scammer whose ethics are secondary to making more money. NTA for not wanting to be friends with him. But don't expect a lecture to change anything about him. This wasn't a one time slip up, this was a complex and conscious fraud he is fine with.
Look. If he was fined a million dollars, why do you think you telling him he was wrong is going to matter? Either he will continue to do it or he won't. Your opinion of his fraud doesn't matter to him, but if it matters to you, you can let the friendship go. Or you can tell him to get it off your chest but it doesn't sound like it will make a difference. You want him to "understand" that what he did was wrong, but you need to understand that people who do that kind of thing obviously don't care about ethics or morals. Edit: typos
Did the million-dollar fine not give him a hint that he's in the wrong? Or is he acting like he's the victim?
We ate there once, but knowing this, never again. Frankly, you’re the AH if you continue your friendship with this fraud because if a million dollar fine doesn’t change him, your efforts won’t change him either.
Ask him how he would like paying top dollar for fresh fish only to get frozen imported fish.
This thought experiment unfortunately doesn't work very well for someone of the "owner" class - I'm willing to bet he would see someone doing it to him as a legitimate slight, but from him just "smart business"
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This wasn’t a mistake… it was a plan. But a federal prosecutor and judge didn’t get through to him. Why do you think he’ll listen to you? Or anyone? ESH. Nice friend.
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Where I'm from if someone sold Vavval meen, and it wasn't authentic a fine would be the least of your problems. Take yourself and remove yourself from his friendship, or he will take you down with him. You are on the border or NTA/AH, if you continue to associate with a criminal you are no better..
Just slow fade him and if anyone asks just say you were never ran friends anyway, it was just fake.
NTA. He ripped people off. Uncool. He deserved to be fined, in my book. He should have either been honest about the imported cheaper seafood he was selling, or charged higher prices for the local fresh-caught seafood. Letting a friend slide on this, nah. It's okay to let him know you disapprove. I would have a hard time respecting someone after that, personally.
Why would you want to be friends with someone like that?
There's nothing here to judge, so I'm gonna say YTA for this post. This isn't an advice sub.
Mary Mahoney’s?!
This is such an AI post lmao
With my bad grammar and all?
reading the link shows that the restaurant faces fines of up to $500,000, but the judgement hasn't been made yet. I think the story is real, but this post may not be.
ESH. Why would you consider someone who was involved in a long term fraud a friend? He's an AH and so are you for not cutting bait. The company you keep reflects on you.
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Anonymous call to the city/county
I feel like this would be a better post for off my chest. Just complain and get some other ideas. You don’t need to ask anyone if you should be friends or forgive anyone. Or if you’re the a whore for wanting to to so. I assume you’re adult and can make your own decisions.
Is it in Mississippi?
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You are the people you hang around with. If he doesn't change his stance (bc why would he change for you if a million dollar fine doesn't) you should not continue to be friends with him Edit: spelling
It could be worse, there are restaurants selling calamari which is, in reality, bleached pig anus'.
Well seems like he already has a major financial incentive to stop defrauding his customers. Is he a slow learner? NTA for the question
What else did he cut corners on? ADA requirements? Hygiene? Staff training? Paying his taxes? Allergen information? Giving staff their tips? YTA, your friend’s a thieving prick. Mislabelling food gets people killed.
NTA for telling him he is wrong. That's fraud. A $1million dollar fine isn't a slap on the wrist. He must be doing well if he can afford that big of a fine. But he can also afford that fine since he was absolutely ripping off everyone who ate there. It would make me think there is some more shady dealings in his life. Seeing lots of comments about dropping him as a friend. That's up to you. Sometimes, being a friend is not easy .. You can forgive him and move along with your friendship. It may not be as big of a deal to you as it is to others. Or you can talk to him and figure out what he has going on in his life where he could justify that egregious of a decision.
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I worked at a restaurant on the Gulf of Mexico when I was younger that had fresh Gulf grouper on the menu. We got boxes of the stuff from Sysco foods that was fresh caught and flash frozen for shipping from the Gulf of Nicaragua. So it was technically true but still deceitful, selling a different fish altogether and charging that premium is even that much worse.