Itaewon bar allegedly spiked foreigners' drinks in rip-off scam
In this security camera video footage, a bar employee checks an unidentified American tourist, in circle, who drank and passed out. He was later overcharged with over 17 million won. / Yonhap
By Chyung Eun-ju
Three bar owners and five employees in Seoul’s Itaewon district -- a popular expat nightspot -- were booked after the owners allegedly ripped off over 25 million won ($22,000) from foreign tourists with the workers’ help, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said on Thursday.
On June 30 last year, a bar owner, surnamed Lee, 42, allegedly used a foreign customer’s credit card to charge him 17,048,400 won over six transactions after the man passed out at the bar. It is suspected that the customer’s drink was spiked.
When the victim went back to the United States two months later, he discovered the payment and told police.
Two other bar owners, each running a different business, in January this year allegedly ripped off a German tourist, swiping his card five times to charge 7.9 million won.
Police found traces of Zolpidem, a sedative, in the German tourist’s hair and suspected that the bar workers may have put the drug in drinks they served to the foreigners. But police failed to find any sedatives during a bar search.
According to police, the suspects mainly targeted foreigners who were drinking alone. The bar workers would then try to make them unconscious to steal their credit cards and swipe them multiple times, police said.
Credit card transaction records show overcharged amounts on the American tourist, left, and the German tourist. / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Police