Man indicted for using cockroach to dodge bill

• Staff writer, with CNA, KAOHSIUNG

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A man in Kaohsiung has been indicted for fraud after allegedly planting a cockroach leg in his ice cream at a hot pot restaurant and pretending to fall ill to avoid paying his bill, the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday.

The man, surnamed Wu (伍), was indicted on Friday last week, the office said in a statement.

Wu visited a well-known hot pot restaurant in Kaohsiung’s Lingya District (苓雅) at 7:47pm on June 17, the indictment said.

A diner cooks hot pot in an undated photograph.

Photo: Taipei Times

While eating ice cream, he allegedly placed a cockroach leg he had brought with him into the dessert and deliberately called it to the attention of other customers and restaurant staff, prosecutors said.

Wu then claimed he felt unwell and needed to go to hospital, and demanded compensation from the restaurant manager, surnamed Shao (邵), they said.

Shao agreed to waive Wu’s NT$4,052 bill and accompanied Wu to the hospital, where he paid NT$551 for his medical treatment, prosecutors said.

However, when Shao later reviewed the restaurant’s surveillance footage, he discovered that Wu had placed the cockroach leg in the ice cream himself, they said.

Shao tried to recover the cost of the meal and medical treatment from Wu, but when those efforts failed, he reported the incident to police.

Prosecutors said Wu was indicted on fraud charges for allegedly using deception to obtain payment for his medical expenses and avoid paying his restaurant bill.