Three patrons at a popular Durban beachfront restaurant racked up a bill of nearly R10,000, sipping on expensive cognac and feasting on meat before making a run for it.

One of the trio, who spent about nine hours drinking, eating and socialising at California Dreaming, was bust by the restaurant’s private security firm, Boss UIP Security Specialists, on Friday night.

Police spokesperson Lt-Col Robert Netshiunda said a 28-year-old man has been arrested for fraud.

“He will appear in the Durban magistrate’s court on Monday.”

According to the receipt totalling R9,322, the group ordered a R3,900 bottle of Hennessey, portions of lamb chops for nearly R900 and Bisquit cognac for R1,500, among other items.

The restaurant’s manager Njabulo Mlambo told TimesLIVE the trio arrived around 1:30pm.

“They ordered a bottle of Hennessey to start off with and a couple of mixers.

“They were here for a good couple of hours and were joined by two women, who drank and left. Two other men joined them as well and left. Three people were left at the table.

“They asked to settle the bill around 10:15pm.”

When one of them attempted to pay with a bank card, it was declined four times.

“He asked if it was possible to make an EFT payment. I called my boss’s brother to ask for permission.

“The one guy sent me a proof of payment via WhatsApp. It looked legitimate.

“I called my boss’s brother to check whether payment reflected and he said no.

“I asked the men to wait until we received confirmation that the money was in our account.

“They said it was fine. The same guy who wanted to make payment, then asked to go to the toilet.”

Mlambo became suspicious and alerted the security company.

“They made a run for it. We managed to catch one guy.

“These guys were friendly with us, they looked like normal customers. I was very disappointed, we gave them good service.”

TimesLIVE