Rival Restaurateur Charged in Crime

NEW ORLEANS, LA. – A rivalry between two owners of Asian restaurants near New Orleans got really heated when one approached the other’s establishment under the cover of night and allegedly set it on fire.

Seventy-four-year-old Mae Fong was arrested in Kenner, La. and is accused of setting the blaze at Young’s Garden Chinese Restaurant. Police say a hidden surveillance camera captured an image of Fong near the building at 3 a.m., Oct. 2. That is the approximate time investigators believe the fire was deliberately set.

Mae owns Fong’s Chinese & Cantonese Restaurant, about one block away in the same neighborhood.

A liquid accelerant was used to burn the Young’s Garden restaurant, police said. The building suffered up to $60,000 in damages and was closed for repair.

Fong’s family claims she is innocent.

But the police chief Steve Caraway said that he believed the surveillance camera provided very valuable evidence that will lead to conviction.

It’s hard to refute what can be seen with your own eyes on surveillance video. That is why covert surveillance is a choice many business owners are making.

• The loss of time and materials due to an inefficient work environment, slacking employees, cheating and petty theft might seem inconsequential. But the accumulated loss is significant. Surveillance cameras can cut this drain on the pocketbook and improve the bottom line.
• Another benefit is when a surveillance camera “catches on tape” actions an employer wasn’t expecting, such as sexual harassment, punching of another’s time card, drinking, consuming drugs, sleeping on the job or other policy violations.
• One of the biggest threats to business is competition. Hidden cameras might uncover rival companies or their designated “moles” stealing physical or intellectual property, recruiting your employees or trying to sabotage operations in other ways.

Every day, countless crimes like robbery, vandalism and arson are solved when incriminating evidence is recorded by a surveillance camera. Hidden cameras have busted holes in many well-constructed alibis.

Surveillance cameras, sometimes paired with audio, sometimes not, are readily available today in retail spy stores and at ecommerce sites on the Internet. Systems can be as simple and inexpensive as a spy pen or a hidden camera in a hardcover book; to solutions costing thousands of dollars. Top-of-the-line surveillance cameras can pan, zoom, pivot and respond to motion and light. Some hidden cameras can be monitored live and others record images and/or sound for later review.

A business person would be wise to investigate the variety of surveillance products available on the market, and perhaps ask fellow, trusted business people about their experiences with covert surveillance products. Unbiased law enforcement personnel and security experts might also recommend a quality surveillance system. Inquiries should lead to an informed purchase and a surveillance system that is likely to pay for itself in a short period of time.

Source: The Times-Picayune of New Orleans