Posted on 12/09/2005 7:58:10 PM PST by nickcarraway
ANKARA -- A Turkish prosecutor has used an 80-year-old law to prosecute 14 popular cafes that offer free fortune-telling as part of a clever business strategy that has angered competitors, reports said on Wednesday.
Fortune-telling in return for a fee is banned under a law dating back to 1925, but dozens of cafes where customers can have their fortunes read from tarot cards or coffee grounds for no additional charge after buying a cup of coffee have mushroomed in recent years.
A prosecutor in the Turkish capital indicted the managers and fortune-tellers of 14 cafes, arguing that even though they did not charge for the fortune-telling, they were nonetheless drawing income by attracting large numbers of customers, the Anatolia news agency reported.
If found guilty, the defendants could face a prison term of at least three months each, it added.
The prosecutor's move came following a complaint from the chamber of coffee houses, a nongovernmental regulatory body, on the grounds that coffee-serving fortune-tellers provided unfair competition, the Milliyet newspaper said.
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