Australian remanded on fresh eat-and-run charges in Hong Kong a day after being fined
Samuel Monkivitch allegedly fled four other restaurants without paying bills totalling more than HK$2,000 and destroyed electronic property
An Australian man has been remanded in custody and hit with fresh charges in Hong Kong for fleeing restaurants without paying more than HK$2,000 (US$255) in bills, just a day after being fined for similar offences.
He was fined HK$3,000 and ordered to use his bail money to pay the amounts owed to the two businesses.
After paying his fine and leaving the courthouse, he was immediately intercepted by two men believed to be plain-clothes police officers and taken away in a vehicle.
On Friday, Monkivitch – who earlier described himself as a “lawyer” but now called himself a “legal consultant and merchant” – reappeared in court.
He was accused of leaving four dining outlets between April 24 and May 5 with the intent of avoiding bills totalling HK$2,039.
In the first of the new cases, Monkivitch dined at a Chinese restaurant in Central, where he allegedly left without settling a HK$284 bill.