A man has made headlines around the world after faking heart attacks in over 20 restaurants in order to get out of paying his bill.
The shameless 50-year-old named Aidas, who is originally from Lithuania but now lives in Spain, thought he'd worked out a flawless plan to eat out and never have to pay for it.
He would mainly target restaurants in the Costa Blanca region, where he would order his food and some alcoholic beverages, before putting on a "theatrical" performance of faking a heart attack, meaning he'd be carted out of the venue by medics before the bill arrived.
However, he played his trick a few too many times as restaurant owners in the area began to catch wise to his act an sent out a warning to others not to serve him in their establishments.
One restaurant revealed that Aidas had ordered a Russian salad and several glasses of White Label whiskey before slumping to the floor and faking a heart attack.
The manager of El Buen Comer, one of the restaurants where the man executed his scam, told The Sun: "It was very theatrical, he pretended to faint and slumped himself down on the floor.
"We have sent his photo around to all the restaurants to try and stop him from striking again."
A worker at Sale&Pepe, another restaurant in the area, added: "We’ve all received a warning with his photo telling us to be careful and to not serve him anything."
Another worker told El País: "He lay down on the floor, acted as if his chest hurt and began to shake."
Aidas was reportedly so brazen with his two-month heart attack spree that he even tried the trick twice in the same restaurant, before being told "not to do it again".
Unfortunately for Aidas he was soon tracked down after his picture was circulated and he ended up being jailed for 42 days after refusing to pay two fines.
Now, you might be thinking that he racked up unpaid bills worth thousands to warrant going to jail rather than paying up, right?
Well, it turns out that the amount he owed was insanely small for the amount of effort - and now jail time - he put into his scam.
According to reports, his bill would only be between €15 ($15) and a maximum of €70 ($73) a time.
In total, he managed to get away with an alleged €766 ($800) in unpaid bills. So not really worth becoming infamous in your area for.
Aidas could face further problems, however, as he only received the 42 days as his scams were considered "minor crimes" due to the small amounts of money involved each time.
A lawyer from Navarra Sancho law firm explained: "He has taken advantage of the legal system, with such small fines unpaid it’s difficult to achieve a longer sentence in prison."
However, the owners of the restaurants he defrauded are now planning to file a joint complaint against Aidas, according to the publication, which could see him land up to two years behind bars.
He might have tried to make the most of all the delicious free food he could get while on the outside, but something tells us the chow he's getting behind bars probably doesn't taste as nice.
