According to the allegations, Ankush Dutta initially reserved a room at Roseate House on May 30, 2019, intending to stay for just one night. However, he continuously extended his stay, ultimately remaining there until January 22, 2021.
Roseate House, a prestigious five-star hotel located near Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, has incurred a significant financial loss amounting to Rs 58 lakh. This loss is attributed to a customer named Ankush Dutta, who allegedly conspired with certain hotel staff members to stay at the hotel for almost two years without making any payment. As a result, the hotel has taken legal action by filing a police case against Ankush Dutta and one of its staff members.
Vinod Malhotra, representing Bird Airports Hotel Private Limited, lodged a First Information Report (FIR) detailing the incident. According to the FIR, Ankush Dutta intentionally evaded payment of Rs 58 lakh for his extended stay of 603 days at Roseate.
In the filed First Information Report (FIR), Prem Prakash, the head of the front office department, is accused of deliberately violating hotel policies to facilitate Ankush Dutta’s prolonged stay. It is alleged that Prem Prakash abused his authority, as he had the ability to determine room rates and access the hotel’s computer system for monitoring guest payments.
The hotel management suspects that Prakash might have accepted illicit cash payments from Dutta in return for manipulating the hotel’s internal software system. This system is responsible for maintaining and tracking the duration of guest stays and their corresponding financial records.
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The First Information Report (FIR) states that there was a criminal conspiracy orchestrated by guest Mr. Ankush Dutta, in collaboration with certain hotel staff members, including Mr. Prem Prakash. The motive behind this conspiracy was to wrongfully gain and deprive the hotel of its rightful dues.
Furthermore, the allegations state that the involved staff members manipulated various records in Ankush Dutta’s account within the hotel’s Opera software system. This manipulation included adding, deleting, and falsifying account entries.
According to the accusations, Ankush Dutta initially reserved a room at Roseate House on May 30, 2019, with an intended stay of only one night. However, he continuously extended his stay beyond the specified checkout date of May 31, persisting until January 22, 2021.
As per the hotel policies, it is required to notify the CEO and Financial Controller when a guest’s outstanding balance exceeds 72 hours. However, the FIR reveals that Prakash failed to inform the higher authorities about Dutta’s unpaid dues.
Additionally, the FIR states that Prakash intentionally neglected to generate records of outstanding payments from May 30, 2019, to October 25, 2019.
According to Roseate House, Prakash employed various tactics to facilitate Dutta’s prolonged stay. One of these strategies involved tampering with accounts to falsely indicate that other guests had made payments on Dutta’s behalf. However, it was later discovered that these claims were unfounded.
Furthermore, the hotel discovered that Ankush Dutta had issued three checks on different dates, amounting to Rs 10 lakh, Rs 7 lakh, and Rs 20 lakh, respectively. However, Prakash intentionally concealed the fact that all three checks had bounced from the hotel management.
Roseate House alleges that the individuals involved in these actions have committed multiple criminal offenses, including criminal breach of trust, fraud, forgery, and falsification of accounts. As a result, they are urging for stringent legal action to be taken against them.
