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Good Samaritan pizza parlor owner caught in alleged fraud scheme

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Good Samaritan pizza parlor owner caught in alleged fraud scheme

Federal prosecutors are not paying it forward in the case against a good Samaritan pizza parlor owner who allegedly set his pizza shop on fire to collect insurance money, the Associate Press reported Thursday.

Federal prosecutors say 32-year-old Mustafa Zabana, owner of Bruno's Pizza in Enfield, Connecticut, pleaded guilty this week to mail fraud in connection with a 2016 fire at his business, which spread to other establishments in the shopping mall, according to the wire report.

Prosecutors say after he allegedly started the fire, Mr. Zabana filed an insurance claim and received a $5,000 check. He then continued to pursue additional insurance payments. He faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing on June 29, according to the AP.

Just six months before the fire Mr. Zabana was highlighted in a Journal Inquirer newspaper article for being a compassionate business owner, giving free pizza to a person in a wheelchair who left the pizza shop without paying for his food.

The article recounts the incident: “It’s OK,” Mr. Zabana said to his employees, who wanted to chase the man down in the parking lot. “He is somebody in need.”

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