TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 24-year-old male Filipino national who while employed part-time at a high-end steak house allegedly stole credit card information from customers and ran up large bills, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Sept. 10).
Between March of last year and this past February, Nikko Tolentino is believed to have used the credit card information stolen from customers at the restaurant, located in Chiyoda Ward, on about 360 occasions to run up bills totaling 9.5 million yen.
Police have arrested Tolentino on suspicion of electronic fraud and other crimes on two occasions in the case.
Prior to this week, Tolentino was already under prosecution for allegedly using stolen credit card information to pay for rooms on an online booking site at the Palace Hotel Tokyo (392,000 yen) in Chiyoda and The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo (359,000 yen) in Minato Ward.
“I targeted gold cards,” the suspect was quoted by police in admitting to the allegations.
On Tuesday, police also accused Tolentino of stealing the credit card information of a 47-year-old male doctor living in Koto Ward on November 15, 2018.
The suspect then allegedly used the information on a smartphone booking service for taxis to pay a fare of 1,210 yen in the Shimbashi area of Minato two weeks later.
“There were frequent charges to my card, but I didn’t know the information had been stolen,” one victim was quoted.
In carrying out the crimes, Tolentino invited friends out for meals and to stay at hotels. The suspect maintained a list of the names of the cardholders and the card numbers, police said.
