‘Conman’ spent 603 nights in five-star hotel ‘without paying’

A suspected fraudster is being investigated for allegedly staying at a luxury Indian hotel for nearly two years without paying.

Ankush Dutta is said to have checked in at the five-star Roseate House near Delhi with a booking for a single night on 30 May 2019.

But he extended his stay until 22 January 2021, racking up bills of 5 million rupees (£55,000).

Hotel managers, who reported Dutta after realising his bills hadn’t been paid, reportedly believe he enlisted junior staff to cover his tracks.

In their police complaint, quoted by the Indian Express newspaper, bosses accused several employees of conspiracy, forgery and cheating.

The complaint said: ‘Accounts were falsified to conceal the actual outstanding dues.’

Detectives believe Dutta bribed the employees, one of whom was said to have unrestricted access to the hotel’s database.

Promotional material shows one of the plush suites at Roseate House (Picture: TheBirdGroup)

Ankush Dutta allegedly enlisted staff to help cover up his ruse(Picture: TheBirdGroup)

The hotel is nestled in picturesque surroundings outside Delhi(Picture: TheBirdGroup)

A senior police told local media: ‘As per hotel rules, if a guest owes more than 50,000 rupees (£527) to the hotel, the staff has to inform the seniors and push the guest for payment. However, this was not done.’

Some reports suggest accounts were also fudged to show that other other hotel guests had paid for Dutta at various times.

He allegedly also paid three cheques for 1 million rupees (£9,587), 700,000 rupees (£6,711) and 2 million rupees (£19,175) but they all bounced.

One of the suspected accomplices was aware of this but did not notify senior managers, the complaint adds.

The case remains under investigation by Indian national police.

Ankush Dutta is suspected of paying dud cheques while bribing junior staff to cover up unpaid bills worth £55,000.