Lawyer accused of dine-and-dash spree allegedly up to his old tricks

Fifty-year-old Australian lawyer Sam Monkivitch is known as “Slippery Sam”.

Fresh out of a Hong Kong prison, Monkivitch is back in Melbourne and targeting small businesses.

In June, he was detained by Hong Kong police and accused of dining and dashing at several high-end restaurants.

Monkivitch was found guilty and fined by a Hong Kong court; his wild antics made headlines around the world.

Now back home, “Slippery Sam” has struck again and an inner-city salon was his target.

The owner, Vanessa, said: “He told me his name and his whole story of how he’d been arrested in Hong Kong for scamming restaurants and not paying. He showed me the article. He’s carrying it around with him, boasting about it. He’s proud of it.”

“As I was cutting his hair, he noticed I had a beer fridge. So he asked if he could have a beer and this was at 10.30 in the morning.”

Vanessa says things got hairy when it was time to pay.

“He was like, ‘No, I’ll go and get your cash. Go to the bank, get the cash, come back’. And he’s like, ‘I’ll be back in 20 minutes’. And I’m thinking, ‘What takes 20 minutes?’ Like, it’s literally two doors down.”

True to his name, Slippery Sam vanished and never returned. He even left a bag of wet, smelly clothes behind.

A week after the unpaid haircut, an A Current Affair crew visited Monkivitch to ask where Vanessa’s money was.

While he seemingly wasn’t home, he may have been watching via his security cameras.

Less than two hours after the crew visited his house, Monkivitch returned to Vanessa’s salon and finally coughed up the money he owed.

We later caught up with Slippery Sam just around the corner.

He refused to answer our questions.

“Do you plan to slip out on businesses here in Melbourne like you did in Hong Kong, Sam?”

“Are you slipping away, Sam?”

Monkivitch may have finally settled his bill this time, but other local businesses should remain on high alert.