Norwegian Jailbirds Live It Up on Credit

Two escaped convicts armed with credit cards have run up bills totaling $400,000 on a three-month round-the-world spending spree since getting away from a Norwegian jail, police said Friday.

Huge hotel and shopping bills charged to international credit cards showed that Oeystein Christiansen and Per Wold had lived luxuriously in such exotic ports as Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore after they failed to return to prison from brief paroles three months ago.

Christiansen, jailed for drug trafficking, had formed a private company while still in prison to qualify for the cards and had appointed fellow inmate Wold managing director of the firm, authorities said.