The management team at the Roseate House Hotel near Delhi airport alerted authorities to an alleged scam when they discovered a guest who had managed to stay in residence for an astonishing 603 days.
The man in question is reported to be in debt to the hotel to the tune of over 5 million rupees which is equivalent to $70,000 or £55,000.
Despite the Delhi police receiving a report on the case on May 24, information has only just started trickling out to local news outlets.
The unidentified man is reported to have checked into the hotel on May 30, 2019, initially booking a single night’s stay, but continued to reside there until January 22, 2022, as detailed in the Indian Express newspaper.
Hotel managers lodged a police complaint accusing multiple employees of engaging in conspiracy, forgery, and cheating.
Officials expressed their suspicion that staff members may have been bribed to manipulate the hotel’s in-house software systems.
The alleged methods employed to achieve this fraudulent scheme involved the manipulation of bills belonging to other guests or the deceptive practice of swapping one bill with another, thus further facilitating the illegal activities.
However, up until this time, the authorities have refrained from disclosing any identities associated with the incident.
According to the senior police officer who spoke to the newspaper, “As per hotel rules, if a guest owes more than 50,000 rupees to the hotel, the staff has to inform the seniors and push the guest for payment. However, this was not done.”
