New Delhi: Delhi Police are looking for a man who allegedly cheated the Leela Palace hotel in Delhi by posing as a member of the UAE royal family and staying there for more than three months. The individual, who is now missing, is said to have departed the star hotel without paying a bill totaling more than Rs. 23 lakhs. Mahamed Sharif has been recognised as a man. Sharif told hotel personnel that he worked for Sheikh Falah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family. He booked into a hotel with a bogus business card impersonating an important government official in the UAE, as per media reports.
Sharif stayed at the hotel in the centre of Delhi from August 1 to November 20 and then abruptly left. Not only that, but he allegedly stole silverware and other stuff from his room, according to police. Sharif’s total cost at The Leela Palace was roughly Rs.35 lakh, however, he only paid Rs 11.5 lakh before leaving.
According to the media reports, Police said that “We are checking if he has done this before. He paid part of the bill in August-September last year and later gave the hotel a cheque for Rs 20 lakh. The cheque was submitted in November and it was found that it bounced due to insufficient funds,” the report quoted a senior police officer as saying.”
“A man, Mahamed Sharif, ran off from Leela Palace hotel without settling outstanding bills of Rs 23.46 lakh after staying from Aug 1 to Nov 20,last yr. He checked into hotel with fake business card impersonating as important functionary of UAE govt; he’s untraceable,” said police as quoted by ANI. The hotel staff believes the man arranged this and told them he would make the remaining money on November 22. However, he had gone missing two days previously.