The guest managed to live in a five-star hotel for two years for free

Damage to the hotel amounted to 58 million rupees

Nearly two years 603 nights – Spent a guest at a five-star Indian hotel “no charge”. This “lucky guy” was due to check out of the luxury hotel after one night, but reportedly stayed there for nearly two years.

Indian police are investigating a fraud suspect who spent nearly two years in a five-star hotel without paying, local media reported.

Roseate House, a five-star hotel near Indira Gandhi International Airport, reported a financial loss of Rs 58 million after a guest, with the connivance of some hotel staff, stayed almost two years without paying a penny.

According to Agence France-Press, Ankush Datta – that is the name of this figure – booked a room at the Roseate House Hotel in Delhi on May 30, 2019 and was supposed to check out the next day. He submitted a copy of his passport as proof of his identity. After spending the night at the hotel, the guest did not go anywhere, but extended his stay by 603 nights until January 22, 2021, leaving $70,000 (£55,000) in unpaid bills.

“The accounts were falsified to hide the actual outstanding contributions,” according to a police complaint quoted by the Indian Express newspaper.

Hotel managers also filed a police complaint against several employees for collusion, forgery and fraud, with officials saying they suspect employees were bribed to manipulate internal software systems.

It was not possible to immediately contact Roseate House management for comment, Agence France-Press notes.

The accused staff allegedly tampered with the internal payment system, allowing a guest to stay there for 603 days without any payment.

The hotel’s complaint cited Prem Prakash, head of customer service, who determined room rates and other charges and was responsible for collecting unpaid guest fees. According to the applicant, as an administrator, he kept accounts for outstanding contributions and had an exclusive ID and password with which he could access the accounts of all guests.

Although Datta did not pay his dues, Prakash constantly extended his stay in violation of standard operating procedure for long-term high-value guests, and he also did not send daily reports of Datta’s outstanding dues to senior officials.

According to hotel regulations, the Times of India writes, a document on guests must be generated daily, payment for which must be made more than 72 hours in advance. “According to the instructions, only one invoice should be issued per guest, and details should be sent to the chief executive officer and financial controller for their information and instructions,” the complaint says.

However, it was not until October 25, 2019 that Prakash prepared a report on Datta’s outstanding dues, the complainant claimed, adding that reports from other guests were sent daily to the CEO and the football club, but Datta’s name was removed to keep management in the dark. The complaint stated that Datta also used counterfeit checks.