Teenager Arrested After Hostess Bar Spending Spree

A teenager posing as a rich 22-year-old IT worker racked up a huge bill at a hostess bar and was arrested when the management discovered he was underage and penniless:

The 16-year-old boy entered a hostess bar in Niiza City near Tokyo on Wednesday night and _ over the course of six hours _ ordered two bottles of Dom Perignon champagne as well as 60 glasses of whiskey, beer and cocktails, said local police officer Hitoshi Morohashi.

The boy also sang karaoke songs with several hostesses, Morohashi said.

When it was time to pay the bill, which had ballooned to 370,000 yen (US$3,490; �2,370), the boy told the staff he had no money, Morohashi said.

The staff called police, and the boy _ whose name was withheld because he is a minor _ was arrested on suspicion of fraud, Morohashi said.

It doesn’t look like the hostess bar will face any penalty for serving alcohol to a minor, since they told police they honestly believed the kid was in his twenties. (There are drinking age laws in Japan, but is not common practice for Japanese businesses to demand ID from customers who purchase alcoholic beverages.)