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Kutsher’s TriBeCa Comes of Age

Waiter at Catskills-themed restaurant reportedly steals $125K from guest credit cards

by
Adam Chandler
January 18, 2013
Kutsher's TriBeCa(Kutsher's)
Kutsher's TriBeCa(Kutsher's)

Kutsher’s TriBeCa, which in just a year has become a local favorite among those nostalgic for the Catskills resort life of the 1950s and 1960s, has reportedly suffered one of the more ironic mishaps an upstate-themed haunt can: one of the former waiters has been accused of stealing from the customers.

And by stealing I mean lifting over $125,000 from the credit and debit cards of patrons and going on a shopping spree.

A former waiter at the successful “Catskills Cuisine” restaurant Kutsher’s Tribeca has been arrested for credit card fraud. Jaiquan Ibraheem, 30, was busted on Tuesday and charged with multiple counts of grand larceny and scheme to defraud, according to court papers obtained by the New York Post. Ibraheem allegedly used a skimming device to steal debit and credit card numbers from more than 120 patrons over the course of two months, between February and April of 2012. Kutsher’s says he no longer worked there after April, but would not say whether he was fired or quit.

Kutsher’s is a great spot and I’m sure they’ll sort this mess out, but in the meantime, all this really means is that Kutsher’s has come full circle. It can only truly be a Catskills joint once there are suspicions that the staff is stealing, right?

Maybe they can sick the ghost of Andy Kaufman to wrestle this guy.

Adam Chandler was previously a staff writer at Tablet. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Slate, Esquire, New York, and elsewhere. He tweets @allmychandler.