Salesman arrested for overcharging tourist 13 times on American ginseng

Customs arrested a salesman of a medicine shop suspected of applying a false trade description in the course of selling American ginseng, with the price marked up 13 times.
      
Officers said the staff member of the shop in Tsim Sha Tsui misled a mainland tourist into believing the unit price of American ginseng was calculated per catty. After the American ginseng was sliced, the salesman revealed that it was priced per tael.

Even with a 10 percent discount, the total charge was HK$9,792 -- 13 times the expected cost. 

The tourist reported the incident to Customs, leading to the arrest of a 27-year-old male staff member on Thursday (Sep 18) for violating the Trade Descriptions Ordinance.

An investigation is ongoing and the arrested man was being held for questioning.