Mumbai: Employee puts in his papers, dupes hotel, customers of lakhs

A 29-year-old manager of a three-star hotel is absconding after duping his employer and customers of several lakhs. Amit Kumar Das worked with Avion Hotel, located opposite the Mumbai domestic airport, for a year and conned his employer of nearly Rs 7 lakh in that period. Police claim the amount may be higher.

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Amit Kumar Das

Das managed to cheat customers and the hotel by using the official e-mail ID and hotel letterheads. The hotel authorities only figured it out in April, months after Das had left the job.

His modus operandi was simple: customers approached the hotel for booking rooms and he was the point of contact since he was the sales manager. After booking the rooms, Das issued receipts but bulked his bank account up instead of transferring the money to the bank account of the hotel. He, of course, did not con all the customers and played it smart.

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"Das had good communication skills and could manipulate anyone easily. Before working with Avion Hotel, he claimed to have worked with a reputed hotel in Marol, which impressed his current employer," said an officer of Vile Parle police station. After working for a year, Das tendered his resignation in February and was serving a month's notice when he committed the maximum frauds.

"We were unaware of the crime but we had terminated him before he could finish his notice period because of some internal and personal issues. The inquiry started on him brought out the fact that Das is a habitual offender," said a senior staffer of the hotel, not wishing to be named.

An FIR was registered at the Vile Parle police station on July 7 under Sections 408 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 454 (making false documents) of IPC, apart from relevant sections of the IT act.

"We have made teams to crack the case. The accused is on the run but we will arrest him soon," said Inspector Mahadev Nimalbar of Vile Parle police station.

His con was extended even to his residential address. After police raided his ‘home' in Mira Road (as found in hotel records), the address was found to be fake.