Taxi drive defrauds Chinese tourist of 58,000 Turkish liras and gets caught

A taxi driver who allegedly defrauded a Chinese tourist of 58,000 Turkish liras has been arrested. The 33-year-old Chinese tourist, Wengi Liu, who came to Istanbul for vacation, was reportedly defrauded by a taxi driver.

Liu took a taxi in Karaköy, asking the driver to drive him to the hotel, but the taxi driver offered to show him around Istanbul instead. The tourist accepted the offer and was taken to nightclubs and restaurants before being dropped off at his hotel.

According to the claim, the taxi driver forcibly took the tourist’s credit card and made seven transactions totaling 58,275 liras.

After receiving a call from his bank in China, the tourist realized he had been defrauded and reported the incident to the police. The Beyoğlu Public Security Bureau reviewed security camera footage and arrested the taxi driver. It was revealed that the driver had 26 previous criminal records. He was arrested by the court on charges of robbery. In his statement, the driver claimed that all the expenses were taken with the tourist’s consent.