Rome bus ticket inspector arrested for soliciting bribes from tourists.

A ticket inspector from Rome's public transport company ATAC has been arrested for soliciting and receiving cash bribes from ticket-less tourists on the city's buses.

Police launched an investigation into the inspector after reports that he sought, and received, €50 each from two tourists on board a municipal bus without tickets.

The inspector told the two women that if they paid him cash they would save half of the €104 penalty each and would also avoid having their names entered into the (imaginary) "register of offenders."

The tourists paid up and, on his invitation, boarded another bus with the inspector. While on board, one of the tourists requested the inspector to provide a receipt for the money he had just pocketed.

The ticket controller reacted by inviting the women to get off the bus once again whereupon he printed off an official receipt for one €104 fine before running away.

The tourists immediately reported the case to police whose undercover officers subsequently intercepted the inspector while in the act of extorting cash bribes from other unsuspecting bus passengers.