Six people were sentenced to between eight months and one year in prison for seducing foreigners into a KTV house and forcing them to pay exorbitant bills, Yangpu District People's Court said yesterday.

The six convicts - four men and two women - were ordered to return their illegal income and fined 13,000 yuan (US$2,076) for coercion, the court ruled.

Prosecutors said one convict, surnamed Li, chatted up with an American expat, surnamed Chiavetta, on Pujian Road in the Pudong New Area and seduced him to a KTV house on Changyang Road in Yangpu District on the night of June 6, 2010.

Two female convicts, surnamed Tao and Ge, pretended to be waitresses and accompanied Chiavetta to entertain in the KTV room while serving him with "fine quality" wines, beers and fruit. Each "waitress" received a 100 yuan tip from the expat, the court heard.

When Chiavetta was about to leave, another convict, surnamed Liu, charged the expat 17,580 yuan and threatened to beat him up after he refused to pay the bill, prosecutors said.

Liu also prepared a POS (point of service) machine he had borrowed from a local coffee house and forced Chiavetta to pay by credit card. The six gang members later drew out equivalent cash and shared the money, the court heard.

In court, Liu admitted forcing the American to pay a bill that was much higher than the expat had consumed.

Liu said he paid 1,000 yuan to rent a room in the KTV house, which included all the food and beverages.