The Golden Arches stopped glowing for a little while last week when a 34-year-old resident of a northern Israeli Arab village tried to blackmail the famous hamburger chain for millions of shekels. He was nabbed red-handed soon after, however.
The man, from Baka el Jarbiya, claimed to have access to a film that documented unsanitary conditions -- including flies and their larvae -- in one of the kitchens at a McDonald's restaurant.
The suspect was charged with suspicion of staging the film in which the flies starred, and on suspicion of trying to blackmail the corporation. He had called the company's management demanded millions of shekels in exchange for the film, which he said documented serious sanitary hazards in the form of maggots which he said were found in a refrigerator of one of the chain's restaurants.
On Friday, the suspect arrived at a gas station in Herzilya, and met with someone pretending to be the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company - but who was actually a detective from the Glilot police station. An actual representative of McDonald's accompanied the "CFO" to the meeting as well, and a number of other detectives also followed.
The young blackmailer opened his laptop computer and showed them the film -- and was immediately arrested and taken for questioning. The suspect was detained and is expected to be arraigned on Sunday. Spokespersons for McDonald's have declined to comment.