Tag Archives: Arrest

Hospitality Industry Employee Crime: New York Hotel Security Director Arrested For Arson After Setting A Series Of Small Fires In Hallways And Stairwells; “Working Vacation” While Hotel Was Shut Down For Repairs

“…(the suspect) was the director of security — and according to his  wife the fire safety director —- for the Yotel hotel near Times Square (and) Hospitality Industry Employee Crimeset a series of blazes that shut down the building for days, freeing him to get  liquored up on the job in guest rooms, FDNY sources said…(he) would light newspapers to set the rubbish fires late  at night or early in the morning while he was on duty…No one was injured in the  blazes, but the source said the small fires would also temporarily close the bars and  nightclubs inside…the hotel would then be  shut down for repairs, giving him a working vacation…”

City fire marshals arrested Barbosa, of West New York, N.J., on Friday,  charging him with setting five small rubbish blazes in the hallways, stairwells  and emergency exits at the Yotel on 10th Ave. over the past two years.

Before that, he allegedly set three fires at the Soho Grand Hotel on West  Broadway — where he worked as a security guard between 2009 and 2010 — including  one just before 3 a.m. on New Year’s Day that brought revelers’ celebrations to  an early close.

Wearing a dark navy suit and a white dress shirt, Barbosa was ordered held on  $50,000 bail. Manhattan prosecutors asked for $20,000, but the arraignment judge  upped the request.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/times-square-hotel-security-chief-arrested-setting-arson-fires-sources-article-1.1463370#ixzz2fdA5nlYl

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Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: New York Restaurant Employees Arrested For Identity Theft; Skimming Device Used To Steal 30 Customer Credit Cards

“…four (employees) were arrested…(and) found to have outstanding federal warrants for deportation and turned over to the Department of Hospitality Industry Identity TheftHomeland Security…Heng Li, 27 of Brooklyn had a credit card skimming device and a counterfeit Michigan ID card.  He was charged with possession of a forged instrument, scheme to defraud, unlawful possession of a skimmer device and unlawful possession of personal identification information, it is also believed he is in this country illegally…”

The Bethlehem Police Department raided the Golden Town Buffet Monday morning in connection with an identity theft investigation.  The restaurant is located at 385 Route 9W in Glenmont.

According to the department, customers credit card and debit card information was compromised after they ate at the restaurant sometime between June 14th and August 5th.  Bethlehem Police are asking anyone who used their card at the restaurant during that time frame to check their bank statements and immediately report any fraudulent transactions to their respective bank and local law enforcement agency as soon as possible.

The Bethlehem Police are being assisted in this investigation by the Albany Police, Colonie Police, New York State Police New Scotland, New York State Police Clifton Park, East Greenbush Police, US Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security.

Li was arraigned in the Town of Bethlehem Justice Court on Monday evening and remanded to the Albany County Jail without bail.  He is due back in court on Thursday.

For more:  http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/features/top-story/stories/police-golden-town-buffet-customers-credit-debit-card-information-stolen-10092.shtml

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Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Florida Hotel Manager Charged With Stealing Over $42,000; Diverted Company Charges To Personal Account

“…According to court documents, (the defendant) ran a scheme in which she made various charges from the company account into six of her Hotel Employee Theftpersonal accounts…part of her duties included checking guests into the hotel and processing cash and credit card payments…from early 2009 to late 2010, authorities say she diverted $42,954.32 from the company account…”

A former employee of a Tallahassee hotel is facing charges she stole more than $42,000 from the business by diverting money onto personal credit cards. Chyrell Martin, 33, a former front desk clerk and manager at the Collegiate Village Inn was booked into Leon County jail on Monday. Martin, of Georgia, is facing charges of grand theft and fraud to obtain property.

Martin, who worked as a manager at the hotel from 2005 to 2010, resigned suddenly in Oct. 2010 after the investigation into the irregularities on the company account began, according to court documents.

She is currently in Leon County jail.

For more:  http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20130730/NEWS/130730007/

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Hospitality Industry Theft Risks: Florida Hotel Employee Arrested In “Fraudulent Overbilling” Scheme; Over $220,000 In Orders And Fake Bids

“…(the defendant) used her job with the hotel’s management team to allow her husband — who owns two supply firms that outfitted the hotel with items like wallpaper, tiles and carpeting — to overbill for more supplies than were actually ordered….(she) was in charge of purchase Hotel Employee Theftorders for the hotel, and inspected guest rooms for damages to determine what needed replacing…the two went as far as concealing their relationship so as not to arouse suspicion from co-workers or auditors. The 22-page arrest affidavit also claims the couple produced fake bids so it appeared Jorge Maquilon’s companies, Decomax and Emporium Supplies, were the best supply source for the airport hotel. In some instances, the affidavit says, Jorge Maquilon ordered supplies — primarily wallpaper — that the hotel had four years’ worth of in storage…”

A husband and wife hired to oversee the purchase of supplies at the Miami International Airport Hotel were arrested Monday, accused of bilking Miami-Dade County out of $222,000 by jacking up prices and lying about the quantities of items purchased.

Jorge Isaac Maquilon and his wife, hotel employee Ivy Evans-Maquilon, both 54, were taken into custody by Miami-Dade police and charged with a single count of organized fraud and two counts of grand theft. Peruvian nationals, both were required to turn in their passports. They were behind bars at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center late Monday afternoon, with bond set at $60,000 each.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/15/3501584/arrests-made-in-overbilling-probe.html#storylink=cpy

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Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Florida Hotel Guest Room Thief Arrest Assisted By Surveillance Camera Footage; Followed Housekeepers Into Rooms To Steal Cash, Personal Property

“…(the defendant) walked into a room that a maid was cleaning, flashing a hotel card and telling the maid that it was his mother’s Hotel Room Theftroom…after the maid finished and left, Johnson took off with $1,800 in cash, $10,000 in jewelry, an iPad and Chanel purse…Miami Beach Police caught a break when they obtained hotel security camera footage of the suspect leaving the building…”

Miami Beach Police arrested a suspect Thursday in a month-old burglary case, only to find that he was wanted by six other police departments and was responsible – by his own admission – for 14 other burglaries in Miami Beach alone. Johnson, of Miami Gardens, was brought in for questioning in connection with a June 8 burglary at the Miami Beach Resort and Spa Hotel where $20,000 in cash, jewelry, and electronics were stolen.

The room’s actual residents, Brazilian tourists Aparecida Pata, 58, and Denize Ferreira, 73, returned from breakfast to find their room ransacked.

After he was arrested and read his Miranda rights, Johnson confessed to the other burglaries.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/04/3485443/man-arrested-in-beach-hotel-theft.html#storylink=cpy

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Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Pennsylvania Restaurant Manager Indicted For Stealing $75,000 Through “Fraudulent Transactions”

“…(the former manager) allegedly stole the money through “fraudulent transactions at the restaurant,” which may have fueled his gambling, hospitality industry employee theftstate police spokesman Lt. Stephen Jones said in September…(the owner) reported the thefts the same month Suozzo was arrested, according to court documents.   It was not clear how he discovered the alleged crime had taken place…”

A former manager at a White Township restaurant and golf club was indicted today on a theft charge after he allegedly stole more than $75,000 from his employer to fund a gambling habit. A Warren County grand jury returned an indictment today against James Suozzo, 56, of Route 57 in Franklin Township, on a theft charge.

At the time of his arrest in September, New Jersey State Police said Suozzo stole tens of thousands of dollars from Top of the Green Restaurant at Apple Mountain Golf Club while working as a restaurant and banquet manager. The investigation revealed Suozzo stole from April 2009 to June 4, 2011, court documents said.

Kiszonak did confirm Suozzo was fired.

For more:  http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-county/express-times/index.ssf/2013/06/former_top_of_green_resturant.html

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Hospitality Industry Privacy Risks: Texas Hotel Employee Arrested For “Attempted Improper Photography And Visual Recording”; Cell Phone Placed In Ceiling Above Guest Room Shower

“…Police say a guest reported hearing an alarm-type sound coming from the bathroom area of her hotel room while she was in the shower…she hotel room privacyfound a small pinhole with a camera lens behind it in the ceiling. After moving the tiles, she discovered the cell phone…Hotel security removed the camera from the ceiling and noted that it was powered on…The room’s electric lock showed that (the defendant) had entered the room the day prior with the key assigned to him….”

A housekeeper at the Hyatt Regency hotel located at 208 Barton Springs is charged with misdemeanor attempted improper photography and visual recording. Blue Moo Too, 30, is charged after his cell phone was found hidden in a ceiling tile above the shower of one of the hotel rooms.

Video on the phone showed a man placing it in the bathroom ceiling and wiping away his footprints from the bathtub. The hotel’s executive housekeeper identified the man as her employee, Too, a housekeeper at the hotel.

Too was booked into Travis County Jail on April 12 with a $25,000 bail. He has since bonded out. Police say they didn’t find evidence of any other victims on his cell phone. His computer is still being looked at. At this time, the former housekeeper is facing up to one year in jail and a fine of no more than $4,000.

For more: http://www.kvue.com/news/Hyatt-hotel-worker-charged-with-improper-photography-203045331.html

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Hospitality Industry Theft Risks: East Coast Hotels Victimized By Man Who “Skipped Out On Hotel Bills” While Posing As Corporate Employee; $60,000 For A Presidential Suite

“…housekeepers found paperwork in the room belonging to (defendant)…a Residence Inn employee told police she received a call from Hotel Theft By DeceptionSerra in which he stated he would pay the bill if the Residence Inn would sign a waiver promising not to charge him with any crime. No agreement was made…Police then were notified the Residence Inn received an email from someone claiming to be a Raytheon employee, stating Serra would be staying there for 15 nights. The email address was identical to the one used in Serra’s February stay, police said…”

A Lowell man is accused of skipping out on bills in upscale hotels in seven states, running up charges while posing as an employee of major corporations.

In one case, prosecutors allege that in March, Michael Serra ran up a $60,000 bill for a stay in the presidential suite at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston under the name Dennis Colling. Serra allegedly said he worked for Citigroup, but does not.

When confronted by Tewksbury police and a U.S. Secret Service agent, Serra allegedly confessed to committing crimes up and down the East Coast for two to three years. The Residence Inn at 1775 Andover St., Tewksbury, reported that a person named Carter Whitmore, who represented himself as a Raytheon employee, skipped out on a $6,349 bill in February. Court documents state that Raytheon refused to pay for the room because it had no employee by that name.

For more:  http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_23010643/city-man-held-hotel-fraud

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Hospitality Industry Crime Risks: Washington Hotel Manager And Staff Assist In Arrest Of “Identity Theft Ring”; Forged ID Cards, Computers And Printers Discovered In Room

…the hotel manager called the police to report suspicious men who had booked a room. As he was talking to officers, the identity theftsuspects ran out a back door of the hotel and left in a vehicle…the manager called back to report that his staff found “suspicious computer equipment” and documents strewn about a room they had been scheduled to clean. Detectives served a search warrant on the room…three suspects returned to the hotel that night to get the items they left in the room and were arrested…”

Mukilteo police arrested three men on Thursday in connection with an identity-theft ring after hotel cleaning staff found a room full of forged IDs and the equipment to manufacture them. The room at the hotel in the 8500 block of the Mukilteo Speedway was filled with computers, printers, mail and paperwork that didn’t belong to anyone registered for the room, said Cheol Kang, spokesperson for the Mukilteo Police Department.

A search warrant also recovered numerous ID cards with different names but the same photo of one of the men, as well as a printer with pages of blank check paper.

A 32-year-old from Lake Stevens, a 31-year-old from Renton and a 28-year-old from Everett were booked into Snohomish County Jail for investigation of financial fraud and forgery. Kang said the three men were already under investigation by other law-enforcement agencies for identity theft, fraud and other financial crimes.

For more:  http://mukilteobeacon.villagesoup.com/p/identity-theft-ring-busted/983738

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Hospitality Industry Theft Risks: South Dakota Restaurant Account Manager Charged With Stealing More Than $100,000; Deposited Checks Into Personal Account Over 7 Month Period

“…(the defendant) is accused of depositing money into her own bank account on 12 occasions, mostly through checks, with the thefts targeting Minervas of Bismarck, N.D. and the Phillips Avenue Diner in Sioux Falls totaling $97,477…(she) also reportedly deposited hospitality industry employee theftmoney electronically three other times, for a total loss to the business of $101,600. All the thefts took place between February and September last year…”

A former account manager for Minervas and the Phillips Avenue Diner has been charged with stealing more than $100,000 from the company last year. Bobbie Sue Davis, 28, worked for WR Restaurants Management when the thefts began, according to court paperwork. The company manages restaurants across North and South Dakota.

During an interview with an SFPD detective on Nov. 19, Davis allegedly admitted to stealing the money, saying she’d been having “personal financial issues” that year.

Davis was arrested on a charge of aggravated grand theft by embezzlement of $100,000 or more on Feb. 5 and released on bond. A grand jury indicted Davis this week. If convicted, she could spend up to 15 years in prison.

For more:  http://www.argusleader.com/article/20130322/UPDATES/130322021/Woman-accused-embezzling-more-than-100K-from-area-restaurant-chain

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