One of the Bay Area's most acclaimed taquerias is recovering from having more than $30,000 siphoned out of its bank account, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Oscar Michel, chef and co-owner of Tacos Oscar — a fixture on the Chronicle's list of the Bay Area's best taquerias and ranked No. 19 on the Top 100 Restaurants list — posted on Instagram Wednesday night that the business lost $31,000 to wire fraud in June following an alleged data breach at its bank. The business's insurance policy was able to cover $10,000 of the total, leaving Michel and business partner Jake Weiss down $21,000, according to the post as reported by the Chronicle. Neither Michel nor Weiss was immediately available for comment.
"As a small business owner, this has been such a humbling experience," the post read. "We work so hard to get by and keep our staff paid and our space open for the community and something like this can ruin everything in an instant." In an Instagram comment, the Tacos Oscar account identified its bank as Beneficial State, but stated that the incident "could have happened with any bank." Beneficial State Bank was not immediately available for comment, the Chronicle reported.
A crowdfunding campaign started by Tacos Oscar employee Zeina Razek went up on Wednesday, aiming to raise $25,000 to support the business. "Oscar and Jake don't like to ask for help — they've already cut their own salaries and dipped into personal savings to keep employees paid and the business afloat," the campaign page said, according to the Chronicle. The goal was met in less than 24 hours and the campaign paused with $25,444 raised. "Our goal has been met thanks to our wonderful network of friends, fellow businesses and kind strangers," an update to the Instagram post read.