Australian lawyer remanded over dine-and-dash charges at Hong Kong luxury hotels

An Australian man has been remanded after allegedly dining at five-star hotels in Hong Kong without paying, just a day after being fined HK$3,000 over similar charges.

Samuel Anthony Monkivitch, 50, appeared at Eastern Magistratesโ Courts on Friday. He was charged with making off without payment and criminal damage between April 24 and May 5, local media reported.
Monkivitch, a lawyer, is accused of not paying restaurant bills at Cafe Too at the Island Shangri-La in Admiralty, Cafe Kool at the Kowloon Shangri-La in Tsim Sha Tsui, and two other restaurants โ one in Central and another in Wan Chai.
His bill at the four places totalled around HK$2,039, the court heard.
The criminal damage offences relate to allegations that on May 4, he destroyed a sales terminal at the Island Shangri-La and damaged a personโs iPhone outside the Hong Kong Museum of History in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Magistrate Tobias Cheng denied Monkivitch bail and adjourned the case to June 5. Monkivitch will attend a bail hearing on May 15.
Previously, on Thursday, the lawyer was fined HK$3,000 for two counts of making off without payment and one count of common assault. He pleaded guilty to the offences the same day, local media reported.
Monkivitch was accused of dashing off after spending HK$639.10 at a Chiu Chow restaurant in Times Square, a mall in Causeway Bay, on March 23. A restaurant staff member chased Monkivitch and said he had not paid, attracting the attention of a bystander surnamed Chen, who pointed a camera at him.
The lawyer got into an altercation with the bystander and said to him, โDo you want your head smashed in?โ
Monkivitch was also accused of leaving before paying a bill of HK$586 at Footaholic, a massage parlour in Wan Chai, on March 25.