Police hunt man who posed as UAE royalty employee and stayed at luxury hotel for months

A man posing as an employee of Abu Dhabi's royal family stayed at a luxury hotel in New Delhi, India for four months before allegedly vanishing without paying his hefty bill. 

Mohammad Sharif is accused of staying at the Leela Palace Hotel, racking up a bill of more than $43,000 (Rs 3,500,000).

Delhi police said he paid roughly $14,000 on the day he fled the hotel, leaving the remaining $29,000 unpaid. 

Officers are searching for Sharif, who has been charged with theft and fraud based on a complaint filed by the hotel on Saturday. 

Delhi is smitten by people with fake money 😂 !!
now, it’s Leela getting duped of Rs 23 lakhs as the man fluently lied about is UAE royal connections & ran away without paying the bills pic.twitter.com/8RnqmJkpwf

— Anu Sehgal 🇮🇳 (@anusehgal) January 17, 2023

The Leela Palace in New Delhi is a 5-star hotel that frequently welcomes celebrities, politicians and international dignitaries. 

Sharif checked into the Leela Palace hotel in August, telling staff he was a resident of the UAE and worked closely with Sheikh Falah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi’s royal family, and was in India on official business. 

He even produced a UAE resident card, a business card, and other documents to corroborate his story, according to Indian media. 

He is accused of giving staff a cheque that covered a fraction of the entire bill before vanishing on 20 November.