NEW YORK - A New Jersey doctor has been indicted for claiming he found a rat's tail in McDonald's food and "greasy particles" in Coca Cola after placing the substances there himself, according to prosecutors.
Dr Michael Zanakis (43), of Harding, New Jersey, was named in a 23 count indictment charging him with fraud and extortion.
Claiming he had to cancel patient evaluations and lost revenues due to the illness after drinking Coca Cola, he allegedly threatened to take his story to the media. He ultimately extorted $4,600 from Coca Cola, prosecutors allege.
The indictment charges that Dr Zanakis himself placed the grease in the Coca Cola can and did not ingest any of it.
Prosecutors also allege that in January 1996, Dr Zanakis bought a meal for his son at a McDonald's restaurant and reported that he found a rat's tail in the french fried potatoes. He claimed that if he was not paid $5 million, he would go public with the story.
The indictment alleges that Dr Zanakis got the rat tail before going to the restaurant, caused it to be fried and that he placed it in the chips.
Dr Zanakis had been an associate professor at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in Old Westbury, New York, at the time and had conducted studies and research using laboratory rats.