Man books 1 night at 5-star hotel, spends 603 nights, eats food and drinks free of charge

An investigation has commenced into how a man who booked one night at a 5-star hotel ended up spending no fewer than 603 nights and enjoyed food, beverages and other services without paying.

Roseate House Hotel in New Delhi, India says it suspects that the man, identified as Ankus Dutta might have conspired with an employee to defraud it of several thousands of dollars.

Although it is unclear how the whole act was carried out, the hotel management has vowed not to let the matter die.

“A criminal conspiracy was hatched by guest Mr Ankush Dutta along with some known and unknown hotel staff, including Mr Prem Prakash with a motive to gain wrongfully and deprive the hotel of its rightful dues.

“In pursuance of the said conspiracy, the alleged staff of the hotel forged, deleted, added accounts entries and falsified a large number of entries in the account of the said guest Dutta in the Opera software system of the hotel,” the First Information Report (FIR) stated.

According to investigators, Dutta checked in on May 30, 2019, and was supposed to check out the next day but someway somehow, he managed to live in the hotel continuously until January 22, 2021, without paying a dime for all the luxurious services that he enjoyed during the period.

A criminal investigation commenced into the fishy development following a complaint filed by the hotel against one of its employees and Dutta. The hotel's management suspects that they both conspired to cheat the company.

Roseate House Hotel has alleged that Dutta used various tricks to extend his stay, including making three check payments at different times, all of which bounced. He even had the records changed to show that other people had paid for his stay, which turned out to be false. It is believed that he could only have succeeded in the fraudulent act with the connivance of a staff of the hotel.

Per the rules of the hotel, which employees are well aware of, if a guest’s outstanding dues exceed 72 hours, it should be brought to the attention of the CEO and Financial Controller. But Prem Prakash, the hotel employee who is suspected to have conspired with Dutta failed to comply with the rule, causing his employer about $70,000 in losses.

It is further reported that he didn’t make any outstanding payment reports from May 30, 2019, to October 25, 2019, and when he did, he bundled them with the dues of unrelated guests to conceal Dutta’s debt.

Roseate House Hotel is bent on pursuing legal action against Dutta and Prakash. It is unclear what kind of relationship exists between the two men.

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