Australian dine-and-dash lawyer gets suspended sentence and fine, plans to fly home

Australian lawyer Samuel Monkivitch has been handed a suspended jail sentence and a fine after admitting to a spree of dine-and-dash incidents across Hong Kong. Monkivitch, 50, appeared at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Friday, having pleaded guilty to four charges of making off without payment between April 24 and May 5, and a charge of criminal damage.

The incidents involved failing to settle bills at prestigious establishments including the Island Shangri-La’s Cafe Too in Admiralty and the Kowloon Shangri-La’s Cafe Kool in Tsim Sha Tsui. The total unpaid bills for these four eateries amounted to approximately HK$2,039. The criminal damage charges stem from allegations that Monkivitch destroyed a sales terminal at the Island Shangri-La and damaged an iPhone outside the Hong Kong Museum of History in Tsim Sha Tsui on May 4.

Monkivitch was released on Friday after spending a month in custody. He received a six-week jail term, suspended for 18 months, and was fined HK$2,000. Additionally, he was ordered to pay HK$12,539.90 to cover the unpaid bills and the damaged iPhone. A family member who traveled to Hong Kong for the hearing agreed to settle the fine on his behalf. Representing himself, Monkivitch stated he was unemployed due to his time in custody and indicated an intention to return to Australia immediately.

This is not Monkivitch's first brush with the law for similar offenses. Separately, last month, he was fined HK$3,000 for two counts of making off without payment and one count of common assault. In that case, he allegedly left a Chiu Chow restaurant without paying a HK$639.10 bill and later had an altercation with a bystander who filmed him. He was also accused of leaving a massage parlor in Wan Chai without paying a HK$586 bill.