A 50-year-old Lithunian national has been arrested in Spain for alleged simulating heart attacks at 20 different restaurants, in the span of a year, to avoid paying his bills.
Spanish newspaper ‘El Pais’ reports that the man, only identified as Aidas J, particularly targeted restaurants in the city of Alicante.
Aidas’ most recent scam saw him order seafood paella and two whiskeys, valued at 34.85 euros (approx. Ksh.5,5240), at the El Buen Comer restaurant in Alicante.
After finishing his meal, the man reportedly tried to make an exit without paying. When he was confronted by the restaurant’s staff, he claimed that he was going to collect money from his hotel room so that he could clear his bill but the hotel’s operators were having none of it.
Irked by the fact he couldn’t leave, the man in a rather dramatic fashion feigned a heart attack, falling to the ground and clinching to his chest.
”It was very theatrical, he pretended to faint and slumped himself down on the floor,” the restaurant’s manager told the U.S. Sun.
Instead of calling an ambulance, the restaurant’s manager phone localled police who were able to easily identify the man owing to his previous heart attack scams.
“The man’s image had reportedly been shared among many area restaurants to try and stop him from striking again,” a spokesperson from the Alicante National Police is quoted as saying by Insider.
“He was arrested multiple times in the city of Alicante. The modus operandi was the same.”
The scammer has since been jailed for 42 days after refusing to pay two fines imposed on him for his deceptive actions but the owners of the hotels he scammed want him to be given a lengthier sentence.
