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‘It’s not a meal, it’s police work’: officer in China sued over US$800 dinner he had 5 years ago now being investigated after public backlash
- The officer won the lawsuit because a court determined it was part of a more extensive investigation
- But the decision went viral in China, prompting an official inquiry from the police department
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A police department in Shanghai has launched a probe into an officer who won a lawsuit after a restaurant said he refused to pay for a nearly 5700 yuan (US$800) feast he enjoyed over five years ago.
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The officer, surnamed Xia, splurged on the meal and even bought a bottle of the expensive Chinese liquor Mao-tai. Despite not paying for the bill, Xia won the lawsuit because the court declared he was investigating the restaurant’s alleged illegal selling of protected animals, according to a court verdict issued last month that went viral online this week.
Concealing his identity as a police officer, Xia invited three other people to join him in the restaurant in May 2017. It specialises in snake meat hotpot, and the four ate dishes of wild game and drank the Mao-tai, which usually costs several thousand yuan, the Baoshan District People’s Court said in its verdict.
The meal cost 5,688 yuan, but Xia only paid 300 yuan for cigarettes and never footed the rest of the bill.
One day before that meal, the owner, surnamed Ge, was detained by another group of officers on suspicion of selling endangered wildlife. A day before that, they seized three cobras, a protected species, from the restaurant, the verdict showed.
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