Conman dupes Delhi’s 5-star hotel of Rs 23 lakh, posed himself as UAE royal

New Delhi: A 5-star hotel in the national capital has been duped of Rs 24 lakh by a person, who stayed in the building for 4 months, posing as an employee of UAE’s royal family and ran away without paying an outstanding amount of Rs 23.46 lakh. Delhi Police have launched hunt for the accused, after the hotel lodged a complaint against him.

According to reports, the conman has been identified as Md Sharif and has been booked for impersonation & theft.

The incident reportedly happened in Leela Palace hotel of South West Delhi. The man stayed in the hotel for almost 4 months last year and then disappeared with hotel’s valuables including silverware and a mother of pearl tray from the hotel room.

According to reports, the hotel in its complaint said that the accused lived in its Room No 127 for more than 3 months and then disappeared without paying the bills. He claimed himself to be an employee of UAE royal family and also submitted fake papers during verification. He reportedly stayed at the hotel from August 1 to November 20, 2022.

The accused befriended some of the hotel staff and convinced them that he worked for the royal family & he came here on some specific assignments.

Though, the hotel management got some bills amounting to Rs 11.5 lakh settled in August/September, however, a substantial amount was due against him. He is also learnt to have issued a post-dated cheque of Rs 20 lakh to settle the dues but that bounced due to insufficient funds in account. Later, inspecting the room, the hotel management found that some valuables were also missing from the room.

Police are searching for the alleged conman and also checking if he has moved to any other hotel, impersonating as someone with connections to UAE’s royal family.