Aussie Scammed Out Of $40K For Single (Hopefully Delicious) Meal In Vietnam

Who among us can say we haven’t gone a little over budget while living our best lives on holiday? Sure, it’s a $700 t-shirt, but you got it from Omotesando! Treat yo’ self!
Still, this particular Australian bloke may not have meant to spend quite this much on his trip to Vietnam. The guy, who local media have identified as David John Caracciolo, apparently ran into trouble while grabbing a bite with some friends at a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City‘s District 1, called NightFall
When it came to pay the bill (which still, astonishingly, came to about $1000 – how do you spend that much money on dinner?!), the cashier deliberately swiped Caracciolo’s two credit cards a bunch of times, claiming that the machine was stuffing up.
that old chestnut
After returning to home soil, Caracciolo realised that the machine had in fact been 100% functional, and that he’d been charged $39,429 for that one meal with mates – that’s VND683,150,000. That’s NINE FIGURES.
Turns out that the cashier had been explicitly instructed by the restaurant manager, a guy called Tran Tuan Minh, to do the old multi-swipe trick. Minh, the sly dog, then went and got all the money out in cash, spent it, and avoided consequences for nearly a whole year before the law caught up with him last Thursday. 
Oh, and he also tried to blame his sister, the restaurant owner, for all of it. Real great guy. 
Caracciolo had brought a lawsuit against the restaurant, because $40k isn’t pocket change even for someone who thinks a grand for dinner is totally reasonable, but after he was reimbursed he dropped the suit. 
Local police, however, pursued charges, saying that Minh’s actions “carried a grave impact on Vietnam’s image and tourist industry“. As such, he’s been charged with “employing electronic devices for the appropriation of properties“.
The rest of us will be left to wonder just what the hell kind of meal is worth dropping $1,000 on, holiday or no. Was it just a pile of gold? Please, god, just this once, let it be a pile of gold. 

Image: John S Lander / Getty.

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