No Excuses. Jail Time for Rip-Off Club Manager

Three-and-a-half years in prison for kidnapping. This is what the Supreme Court upheld in the case of Anna Mária T. who prevented tourists from leaving the club until they pay exorbitant bills. 

The charges stemmed from two particular cases. On 22 July 2007 two Dutch tourists were billed HUF 179,000 (EUR 608) after a couple of drinks. When they could not pay on the spot, one of them was taken to an ATM at Széna tér (square) while the other was detained at the club. When one of them tried to argue over their treatment, he was kicked and punched by the Caligula’s bouncers.

The second case centred on the next day, when an American and two Mexican tourists were charged HUF 377,000 (EUR 1,280) for three beers.

According to news website index.hu, they were approached by three female strippers who wanted the tourists to buy them drinks. When they refused, the dancers ordered Tokaji wine for themselves anyway. When they received the HUF 377,000 bill, the hapless guests refused to pay.

At first the tourists agreed to hand over EUR 300 they had with them but this was not enough. Club heavies also wanted one of the tourists to hand over his expensive-looking watch before deciding it was a fake. Each of them was frog-marched individually to a nearby ATM while the other two were detained at the bar.

Besides the club manager and a security guard, the taxi driver who recommended the place and a server were also found guilty of participating in the abduction.

Similar cases have happened before, e.g. in 2008 in the District VII Mercy nightclub and frequent incidents in the now-closed Galaxia restaurant.

A list of club warnings can be found on Hungary’s American Embassy website’s tourist advisory – although the club names are not specified, the locations are.