Mahamed Sharif scams Leela Palace hotel in Delhi, flees without paying over Rs 23 lakh bill

Identified as Mahamed Sharif by the Delhi Police, the man has been booked for impersonation and theft, along with his lakhs-worth bill.

New Delhi, Jan 17: Delhi Police are on the lookout for a man who allegedly scammed Delhi's The Leela Palace hotel by posing as a staff of a UAE royal family member and stayed there for over three months, The Indian Express reported.

The man, who is now missing, reportedly left the star hotel without paying a bill of over Rs. 23 lakh. The man has been identified as Mahamed Sharif.

According to reports Sharif told the hotel staff that he worked for Sheikh Falah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi, The Indian Express reported, citing the complaint. He checked into hotel with fake business card impersonating as important functionary of UAE govt.

Reports said that Sharif stayed at the hotel in the heart of Delhi from August 1 to November 20 and left without informing anyone. Not just that, he also allegedly stole silverware and other items from his room, the police said. While Sharif's total bill at The Leela Palace was around Rs.35 lakh, he paid them Rs 11.5 lakh before leaving the hotel.

"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 of Rs 20 lakh. The cheque was submitted in November and it was found that it bounced due to insufficient funds," the reported quoted a senior police officer as saying.

While speaking on the developments to ANI, Police said,'' 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's untraceable.''

The hotel staffs believe that the man had pre-planned this and told them that he intended to make the remaining payment on November 22. However, two days before that, he went missing.