According to NYPD data from last year, New Yorkers are either a bunch of cheapskates or they're just getting worse at being sneaky. Arrests for "theft of service," or running out on your restaurant tab, jumped 20% from 315 arrests in 2009 to 376 in 2010. And no, it's not just jackass teenagers. Some of the crooks have bowties! Or kids! Chef Jehangir Mehta said, “People think it’s the young who cheat — [but] I feel like half the time it’s people with a little more savvy." more ›

The Wellsville Daily Reporter obtained a copy of a check written by Paul Ceglia to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2003, a check which may support Ceglia's claim that he should rightfully own 84% of Facebook. According to the suit, Ceglia signed a "work for hire" with Zuckeberg for a project called "The Face Book," which required a $1,000 investment from Ceglia in the project in exchange for a 50% stake and another "1% interest in the business for every day after Jan. 1, 2004, until it was completed." This check is the first independently produced evidence of a contractual relationship between Ceglia and Zuckerberg. And cue The Social Network sequel? more ›

Creeping anonymously into Spigolo on the Upper East Side, one couple has been quietly picking up the checks of other diners, and refuse to reveal themselves to authorities! Customer Katie Barnhart, whose table racked up a $200 tab on a recent night, told the Post, "I was eating at the bar with my parents the weekend of Mother's Day—and we really splurged—but when we asked for the bill, the bartender said, 'It's been taken care of.' They also picked up the bill of two women sitting next to us." Unfortunately, the couple seems to have no formula for determining who gets to bask in their kindness. more ›

A Brooklyn man has been charged with murdering a Russian court translator and a jewelry importer and stealing their identities. Investigators told the Daily News that Dmitry Yakovlev also took the identity of a former NYPD mechanic who has been missing since 2003, and they "believe there are even more victims whose body parts have been strewn across New Jersey over the past decade." A source told the tabloid: "He's got a lot of bodies on him ... The guy is a like a serial killer." more ›

A custodian at a city school in Harlem allegedly stole $29,000 from the school's payroll and used some of the cash to send his kids to a costly prep school in Pennsylvania. Edwin Hendricks, 42, reportedly confessed to withdrawing the cash from a Thurgood Marshall Academy custodial account that he was supposed to monitor, but said he "normally only stole money around the end of the year." more ›

Former MTA worker (he already quit!) and new multimillionaire Aubrey Boyce would probably like to take his lotto winnings and buy a new name. The Queens resident finally picked up his $133 million from the Mega Millions folks at Grand Central yesterday—a nearly $55 million (post tax) lump sum payment—on a giant check made out to the mysterious "Archibald Trust" (a fund Boyce created and appointed himself trustee of). more ›