Florida Line Cook Accused of Stealing Restaurant’s Secret Recipes with Plans to Use Them at Other Restaurant By Rachel Raposas

A line cook has been accused of stealing secret recipe books from the restaurant where he worked.

Carlos Francisco Gottberg Marquez, a 50-year-old line cook at Mordisco Miami in Doral, Florida, was charged with theft of trade secrets after he confessed to stealing three recipe books from the restaurant, Daily Mail and NBC Miami reported. The restaurant, which serves Venezuelan and Caribbean fusion cuisine, noticed the cookbooks were missing on Oct. 20 and contacted police.

Upon reviewing surveillance footage at the restaurant, staff allegedly saw Marquez taking two cookbooks on Oct. 12 and another on Oct. 19, the outlet reported. Mordisco Miami then contacted police, who also reviewed the footage, and went to arrest Marquez at his second job at Shoma Bazaar food hall.

There, Marquez was detained without incident. When police informed the line cook as to why he was being arrested, Marquez told authorities in Spanish, “It’s in my bike,” per NBC Miami He then produced one of the recipe books from his moped’s storage box.

Police later interviewed Marquez, at which time he confessed to stealing the books, the outlet reported. Marquez reportedly told police he’d intended to learn the recipes and use them at another restaurant.

Marquez told police the two remaining cookbooks were at his home. He was then taken to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Daily Mail reported that a judge had granted Marquez a pre-trial release, or an alternate bond of $2,500, on the condition that he stayed away from Mordisco Miami.

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Neither Mordisco Miami nor the Doral County Police Department immediately responded to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

In Florida, theft of trade secrets are considered a second or third degree felony, with the maximum punishment amounting to fifteen years in prison and a fine of $10,000.