An Australian man, who claimed to be a lawyer, has been fined HK$2,000 (US$255) and given a suspended sentence by a Hong Kong court for repeatedly leaving restaurants without paying.
Samuel Anthony Monkivitch, 50, was also ordered to pay HK$2,039 in compensation to two Shangri-La hotels in Admiralty and Tsim Sha Tsui, as well as a Japanese restaurant, after skipping bills on four occasions between April 24 and May 5.
Eastern Court heard on Friday that Monkivitch used various excuses to leave the premises, including telling hotel staff that the breakfast buffet was included in the booking, despite not being a guest.
He pleaded guilty to four counts of making off without payment and two counts of criminal damage.
Last month, Principal Magistrate David Cheung Chi-wai fined Monkivitch HK$3,000 for similar offences involving a restaurant and a massage parlour, where he left without settling bills totalling about HK$1,200.
Court documents in that case listed his occupation as a lawyer. However, in the current proceedings, he described himself as a “legal consultant and merchant”.
He was reportedly a senior corporate advisory and technology lawyer at legal consultancy firm KorumLegal.
At Friday’s hearing, Cheung asked Monkivitch, who had been in police custody for the current case, about his plans after release. Monkivitch said he intended to return to Australia soon.
“I hope this is the last time you come to this court,” Cheung told him.
The magistrate imposed a six-week prison sentence, suspended on condition that Monkivitch commits no further offences during his remaining time in Hong Kong.
According to the prosecution on April 24, Monkivitch dined at a Chinese restaurant in Central and left without paying a HK$284 bill.
On May 4, he committed two similar offences: leaving the cafe at Island Shangri-La in Admiralty without paying HK$437.80 for a buffet, and fleeing a Japanese restaurant in Wan Chai’s Hopewell Centre without settling a HK$567 bill.
The following day, he consumed a HK$750 meal at a cafe in Kowloon Shangri-La in Tsim Sha Tsui before leaving without paying.
A cafe manager pursued him, leading to a dispute during which Monkivitch admitted damaging the manager’s iPhone. The repair cost was about HK$10,000.
Monkivitch told the court he could compensate the restaurants and the manager but disputed the repair cost, calling it “unreasonable” and asking the magistrate to reduce the amount.
But Cheung replied: “I don’t have any discretion. Either you pay, or you do not pay. If I don’t have the financial means to pay, I will consider that.”
The South China Morning Post learned that a man believed to be Monkivitch’s godfather attended the hearing and agreed to settle the bills.
In mitigation, Monkivitch said the case had caused “financial implications and consequences”, noting he had been remanded for 15 days and that it had an “adverse impact on my employment”.
He told the court he had learned a “hard lesson”.