The Lithuanian man Aidas J. arrested after faking a heart attack to stop paying at the restaurant Spain

A fraudster living in Spain has been arrested for faking heart attacks on 20 separate occasions to avoid paying for his meals at various restaurants.

The 50-year-old man, a Lithuanian national identified as Aidas J., lives in the southeastern port city of Alicante and acted like a “typical Russian tourist” as he ordered several items from the menu before refusing to to pay the bill.

Aidas was first arrested for his scams in November 2022 and his most recent run-in with the law was on September 19, he said. Spanish news agency EFE.

In his latest target, the brazen scammer visited El Buen Comer in the historic district of Alicante, Spain for dinner and ordered a seafood paella and two whiskeys, which cost approximately $36.80.

When he finished eating and drinking, the man tried to leave, but was stopped by restaurant staff who told him he had to pay.

At first, Aidas, who has been nicknamed “El Gastrojeta”, said he had to go back to his hotel to get the money.

He then claimed he felt “unwell” and threw himself on the floor.

“It was very theatrical, he pretended to faint and fell to the floor,” Moisés Doménech, owner of the restaurant. he told the US Sun.

The restaurant staff didn’t buy the man’s antics and called the cops who recognized the scammer from his previous arrests and re-arrested the man.

Aidas confirmed his identity to police when they arrived at the restaurant and called for an ambulance, but officers found he was fine and took him to the police station.

Aidas, usually dressed in designer clothes and speaking a mixture of several languages, usually orders a Russian salad, “which he seems to like quite a bit,” an agent told the Spanish news agency.

One of the officers who arrested Aidas several times says the man smiles when the police arrive and “looks unpunished” because he doesn’t mind spending a couple of days in jail before his brief trial before a judge, according to the judge . EFE news agency.

Doménech has sent the man’s photo to other nearby restaurants warning them not to serve the scammer.

Several local restaurants filed a joint criminal complaint against Aidas, asking that he be sentenced to up to two years in prison.

Aidas has been jailed for 42 days for two unpaid fines, according to the Sun.

Since the restaurant bills weren’t too much money, the man only committed “minor crimes.”

He has taken advantage of the legal system, with such small unpaid fines it is difficult to get a longer prison sentence,” a lawyer from the Navarra Sancho firm explained to the Sun.