Ten years for McDonald’s employee who spat in ice cream to extort cash

A FORMER McDonald’s employee learned the hard way – spitting on a customer’s ice cream and using a video clip of the act to get money from your employer – can be expensive.

He was yesterday sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for spitting in a McFlurry ice cream and using this to extort money from the food chain outlet.

Clement Othusitse Seothaeng, 27, originally from Pampierstad in Northern Cape, was sentenced by the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court following his conviction on charges of malicious damage to property and extortion.

The court sentenced him to a total of 15 years on these two charges, but ordered that he served an effective sentence of 10 years.

Seothaeng was sentenced to 10 years for extortion and five years for malicious damage to property. The magistrate, however, ordered that both sentences run concurrently, leaving him with 10 years in jail.

Lumka Mahanjana, regional spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, said they welcomed the sentence.

Seothaeng had been working at McDonald’s restaurant in Montana as a crew member for two years.

On September 23, 2017, while at work, Seothaeng recorded himself in a 20-second video clip with his phone preparing a McFlurry ice cream without showing his face. It showed a person who was only wearing a uniform.

However, when preparing the sweet treat, he spat inside the McFlurry ice cream. He then mixed his saliva into it and closed the cap.

After recording himself, he sent the clip to the manager, using a different cellphone number, pretending to be a concerned customer. He then demanded R150 000 in return for not circulating the clip on social media.

The manager reported the matter to the police and a trap was immediately set up. Seothaeng was arrested a few days later.