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Manhattan, NY - New York City’s thriving black market in illegal food vending permits took a blow this morning when six people were arrested as a result of multiple sting operations by the city’s Department of Investigation. Sotirios “Steve” Econopouly, 71; Fernando Quesnay, 52; Ifigenia “Effie” Tsatsaronis, 40; Jacob Shimon, 46; Nikhli Nikhil Dhameliya, 23; and Adamadia Arabatzis, 48, were arrested in Queens and Manhattan and charged with multiple counts of fraud.

The six were working various angles of the underground market, according to criminal complaints filed today. One is charged with submitting false documents with forged signatures to the Department of Health, which issues the permits. Another, a sheet metal contractor, is accused of renting inspection-worthy carts to vendors whose own carts would have failed, then transferring the inspection decal to those carts. A notary public is alleged to have notarized blank and pre-signed documents submitted with renewals of permits, which are valid for two years and can be renewed indefinitely by mail.

The probe concluded that at least 500 food vendor permits now in circulation in the city are probably held illegally. Some of the permits were in the names of dead people, others were held by people who were no longer working in the vending business. Those cases have been reported to the Department of Health for possible revocation.

The investigation began two years ago, when inspectors at the central health department inspection facility in Maspeth, Queens, noticed that the same cart was repeatedly submitted for inspection, with different documentation.

Turnover of food vending permits is excruciatingly slow, vendors say. Each year, only a dozen or so permits become available through the health department, fostering the market for illegal documents.

“No matter what your background is, what your resources are, everyone has to go through the same back channels,” said Ali Issan Issa, an organizer for the Street Vendor project, an advocacy group for vendors.

Rose Gill Hearn, the commissioner of the Department of Investigation, called the black market a “double whammy of fraud” saying that the accused had both defrauded the city of fees and created a public health risk. She said that the findings suggest that the city should institute a bidding process for permits, and tighten inspections.

“Under the current system, the permits are so inexpensive and the inspection process is so loose that it creates an opportunity for fraud,” she said in an interview. “The city of New York should get the money that’s on the table, not black marketeers.”