Ankush Datta, a guest from Guwahati, stayed at the five-star Roseate Hotel close to Delhi’s IGI Airport in May 2019. The front desk manager, the visitor, and several employees were named in a complaint by the hotel management that claimed they were all involved in alleged fraudulent actions. Ankush Datta had been a guest at the hotel for 603 days and had a balance of 5,800,000 rupees that was still owed. According to the police, he left without paying the bill.
Datta, the head of the hotel’s front office department, Prem Prakash, and other staff are being investigated. Prakash is facing allegations of fraud, forgery, and criminal conspiracy from the police. A number of entries in the visitor’s account are said to have been improperly created, modified, and transferred by hotel staff members using the Opera software system. The illegal operations were carried out to conceal the true amount owed and prevent the discovery of illegal conduct planned by the upper management.
According to the hotel’s rules, if a guest owes more than 50,000 rupees, the employees are required to inform the senior management and put pressure on the guest for payment. However, this was not done in Datta’s case. The police suspect that Prakash used his access credentials to log into the system and alter records.
The authorities found evidence of charges being withdrawn from their bills, transferred to the bills of other visitors, and many fake and fictitious pending bills being established for Datta’s benefit. According to the hotel’s records, Datta was transferred to a different room, but his total stay time was shortened by 308 nights to show a lower amount. Datta provided fake receipts and checks ranging from 700,000 to 1,000,000 rupees, which could not be cashed.
Datta, Prakash, and additional staff members have been charged with fraud, forgery, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, and other offenses. The Rosette Hotel’s management chose not to respond to inquiries made about the incident. Datta will be questioned by the police on his association with Prakash, and notices will be given to the hotel staff.
