French trio pull off USD 230,000 'dine-and-dash'

Three French pensioners who ran up a bill of over USD 230,000 after staying at a luxury Swiss chalet for over two months have gone on the run without paying.
The trio from the French Riviera stiffed the Swiss Alps chalet in the upmarket resort of Crans-Montana.
They lived like kings for 60 days - treating themselves to expensive champagne, health treatments, massages, limousine services and rested by sleeping in beds with silk sheets.
However, when it came to paying the bill they didn't hand over a penny and instead signed an "acknowledgement of debt" to the owner, 'The Local' reported.

"Such a large sum is a record," Patrick Berod, director of hoteliers in the region told French radio station RTL.
Berod admitted that con men regularly pull these kind of tricks, but not for quite as much as USD 230,000.
"They arrive in helicopters they haven't paid for elsewhere, or in swanky cars - Rolls-Royces or Ferraris with a hired chauffeur at the wheel," Berod said.
The trio has already been sentenced by a Swiss court to swindling, but remain on the run.