Here is a true story as recounted by a friend.
Visit to a Geneva Disco
His 17 year old son announced to his father that he had been to a Nightclub with 3 male friends in Geneva. (I will leave out the name of the club, as I don't want to get sued.)
Despite the son's excitement, the father was not pleased to hear such news. "Isn't it illegal to go to a bar when you are under 18?", asked the father. "Awww Dad, everyone has a false ID", replied the son.
Over-friendly Boss
The son then recounted that the night club owner had come over and made friends with them. He said the nightclub owner talked with them a long time about the music they like, and gave them all free champagne. He told his Dad that the "owner" had many girlfriends, drove a Porsche, and is a multi-millionaire. "I want to own a nightclub when I leave school", say the boy.
Just then a message arrives on the son's phone from the club "owner". It thanks the boys for coming and says how great they are and asks them to come back again bringing all their friends. The son is hyper-excited that the Night Club "owner" is now his good friend.
"How old is this guy?", asks the father. "He's about 35", replies the son. "He's a paedophile!" asserts Dad. "Awww Dad, I know what a paedophile is, and he's not," replies the son. "He goes home with two or three girls every night and he has $95 million in the bank.".
Son tells Dad "He's so rich that we didn't have to pay anything. He liked our views about the music and atmosphere so much. We drank loads of champagne".
Dad was hyper sceptical. "It must be lies. Why would a 35 year old man be interested in four schoolboys?", asks the Dad. Boy argues back that it is because is so cool and can give good advice about the music and so on.
Dad considered reporting the club and the "owner" to the police, but in the end took no action. Dad warns son that "all is not what it seems. - I forbid you to go there again"
The thefts start
A few weeks later, valuable items like jewellery and bicycles start to vanish from the father's home. Strangely enough, there is a spate of similar thefts in all his schoolfriend's homes, all over different parts of town in just the same way- bicycles and jewellery go missing.
Hacking Facebook
Some rapid detective work by some of the affected parents then follows. Simply put, this involves hacking into their children's Facebook accounts and reading other blogs and email.
The story then begins to emerge. Thank you, Facebook, Myspace, Gmail and Twitter for helping the parents know what their kids are really up to.
What really happened
A week or two after the first nightclub visit, the boys, accompanied by another 8 male friends had headed again for this "hot" nightclub. On arrival, the owner theated them like long lost friends. "Welcome back boys, come in, sit down and enjoy", he said. "Let me get you some champagne. It's on the house - free of charge".
As the evening wears on, more bottles of champagne arrive. Some girls turn up and mingle, and even more champagne is drunk. The boys are quite drunk and all natural caution, (if there ever was any in boys), is forgotten.
The Shocking Bill
At the end of the evening, the kids are preparing to leave, and then the shock comes. A burly waiter brings a bill! A bill!??? The kids weren't expecting that! The "owner" is their friend. The bill is for over 8'000 Swiss Francs! (I reckon that's around 15 to 20 bottles - what 17 year could drink a whole bottle?).
The boss is called, and explains to the boys that he loves their company which is why he bought them the "FIRST" bottle of champagne, but surely they didn't think all the champagne was free? What could they have been thinking?
None of the kids have that sort of money, or even a fraction of it. Only one of the boys is over 18, and he luckily has a credit card, supplied and guaranteed by his parents "for emergencies". The burly waiter makes it clear that they are not leaving before the bill is paid.
Finally a deal amongst the boys is agreed. The one with the credit card paid the bill and the other boys will repay him the next day.
The children turn to theft
Nobody dares to tell their parents why they suddenly need cash. Many of the kids simply can't raise hundreds of francs at short notice, and the pressure is on them to pay-up quickly. One of the boys finds a "fence" - someone who will pay cash for stolen bicycles and jewellery. The children are forced to steal from their parents, to flog their bicycles and their parents jewellery to raise the cash. Another boy tries to sell his dad's Rolex to the Rolex shop in Geneva, and gets himself promptly arrested after the shop calls the police, (boys are so naive sometimes).
The Lesson
Whilst the kids learned a valuable lesson, "there is no free lunch", it ultimately cost the parents a lot more in stolen property.
Warn your kids
If you think your kids may be about to go to a night club, warn them about the scammy tactics employed by the so called owner of this well known Geneva night club. He befriends the boys, makes them feel grown up, impresses them with stories of his three girlfriends "every night", claims he has money and power, and then he scams them by tricking them into thinking the champagne is free. What a sleazebag.
