AN expat has been jailed for faking a heart attack to avoid picking up the cheque in at least 20 restaurants in Spain.
The 50-year-old, originally from Lithuania, will spend 42 days behind bars after failing to pay two fines for his series of theatrical dine and dashes.
His modus operandi was identical in almost every eatery he targeted, the majority of them on the Costa Blanca.
He was a man of habit and would always order several glasses of ‘White Label’ whiskey to wash down a Russian salad, a dish ‘he seems to like quite a bit’, said one restaurant owner.
Among the targets were El Buen Comer and Sale&Pepe, in Alicante.
“It was very theatrical, he pretended to faint and slumped himself down on the floor,” said the manager at El Buen Comer.
“We have sent his photo around to all the restaurants to try and stop him from striking again.”
A worker at Sale&Pepe said: “We’ve all received a warning with his photo telling us to be careful and to not serve him anything.”
Because each incident was considered a small amount of money, they are only considered as ‘minor crimes’.
However the restaurant owners are now planning to file a joint complaint which could land the man up to two years in jail.
A lawyer from the prestigious firm Navarra Sancho said: “He has taken advantage of the legal system, with such small fines unpaid it’s difficult to achieve a longer sentence in prison.”
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