Tokyo cops crack down on clubs ripping off foreigners in Roppongi

TOKYO (TR) – As a part of a crackdown on bars defrauding foreign customers in the Roppongi area, Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Wednesday busted a hostess club for threatening a male customer, reports TBS News (Nov. 12).

In September, Azubuike Onyama, a 47-year-old employee at club Desire, allegedly chased the customer, a 30-year-old German national, after he fled the premises after refusing to pay a bill of roughly 120,000 yen.

Onyama apprehended the customer 200 meters from the bar. The suspect then attempted to drag him. He also stole the his mobile phone.

Onyama, who is a Nigerian national, denies the charges.

Since the start of the year, police have received 17 complaints of bottakuri, or bill padding, in Roppongi. Of those cases, 16 have been lodged by foreigners.

One common means of inflating a bill is to charge customers without their knowledge for drinks consumed by hostesses. At club Desire, such drinks are priced at 3,000 yen each, according to Fuji News Network (Nov. 12).