A man pretending to be a resident of the United Arab Emirates and an employee of the royal family of Abu Dhabi stayed at a 5 -star Hotel in Delhi's Sarojini Nagar for three months and fled without settling its outstanding bill. According to a complaint lodged by the staff of Hotel Leela Palace, the bill in his name stands at a whopping amount of more than Rs 23 lakh, reported news agency IANS.
The man checked into the hotel with a fake business card on August 1 last year, and posed as an important functionary of the government of UAE office of His Highness Sheikh Falah Bin Zayed AL Nahyan.
"He also gave a resident card of the United Arab Emirates on arrival. It seems the guest purposely gave these cards to create a false image and garner extra trust with an intent to cheat/deceive the hotel at a later stage," the FIR filed by the delhi police read, according to IANS.
"The man had also made a few part settlements in the month of August and September 2022 worth 11.5 lakhs for room charges, the total outstanding still stands at INR 23,48,413 against which he had issued us a post-dated cheque worth INR 20 lakhs due for November 21, 2022 which was duly submitted to our bank on September 22, 2022, but due to insufficient funds the cheque bounced," the FIR read further.
The impersonator, Mahamed Sharif had checked into the hotel on August 1, 2022, and fled the place on November 20. He also stole valuables like silver bottle holders from the hotel.
"On November 20, 2022 around 1 p.m, the man fled with hotel valuables and this seems to be completely pre-planned since we were under the impression that by November 22, 2022 hotel will get the dues cleared through the cheque he had submitted," read the FIR, according to IANS.
Based on a complaint by a hotel staff, the Delhi Police registered an FIR on January 13 under sections 419 (Punishment for cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), and 380 (Theft in dwelling house, etc) of the Indian Penal Code. A hunt is on to nab the culprit.