PARIS - French police have reportedly started a fraud investigation against a Paris taxi driver who has been accused of charging an Olympic official from Qatar €1,499 ($1,639) instead of the €14 shown on the meter.
Le Parisien paper said the man paid by credit card and only realised later that he had been charged 100 times the amount for a short ride from a restaurant to the Eiffel Tower.
He reported the case to police which has started a probe.
Last year a Paris taxi driver was arrested on charges of ripping off foreign tourists in a similar scheme, with a Spaniard being secretly charged €1,540 instead of €15.40.
The driver tricked the tourists into believing that the contactless payment on his card reader was not working. While they entered their PIN in good faith, the driver concealed the increased amount he had entered. - DPA