A Lithuanian in Spain regularly faked a heart attack to avoid paying in a restaurant

Funny story told La Nación publication about a Lithuanian who moved to live in Spain, but found himself without a regular income and at the same time found a cunning way not to starve.

A 50-year-old Lithuanian citizen living in Alicante realized that no one would want to deal with a guest experiencing a heart attack, and decided to take advantage of this.

He came to the restaurant under the guise of a “rich Russian tourist”, ordered delicious dishes, and when it was time to pay, he began to play the role of the core – he moaned, putting his hand to his heart, as if he suddenly felt ill. Frightened waiters called an ambulance, after which the 50-year-old man calmly left the restaurant without paying the bill.

The publication reports that at some point there were many such cases in Alicante, since the swindler deceived restaurateurs for a whole year, information about him spread throughout the professional community and the Lithuanian was detained several times and fined, which he ignored.

A number of restaurants filed a class-action lawsuit demanding criminal charges be filed against him and demanded that he be sent to prison. The investigation found that the man faked a heart attack in restaurants at least 20 times.

A striking case of the scam occurred at the El Buen Comer restaurant, located in the historical district of Alicante, where the fraudster decided to order seafood paella and two types of whiskey for a total of 34.85 euros. Without paying the bill, he headed for the exit, but was stopped by the waiters. At first he said that he had forgotten the money at the hotel and decided to go get it, but then, pretending to feel bad, he fell to the floor.

But the waiters already knew about the Lithuanian’s habits and called the police, who immediately recognized the swindler from his previous arrests and again brought him to the police station. During questioning, he stated that he did not speak Spanish and asked for an interpreter. However, when investigators asked the man if he had committed this type of fraud before, he smiled and confessed.

As a result, the Spanish court sentenced him to a suspended sentence and issued a small fine, since the damage caused by his actions turned out to be insignificant. However, Alicante restaurants are now closed to the crafty visitor.