Dad settles outstanding $10,000 hotel bill

An outstanding hotel bill of $10,000 run up by a young woman who attempted to pay with a credit card which did not belong to her has been settled by the young woman’s father.

According to reports, after being questioned by the police about the fraudulent transactions, the young woman was released to the custody of her father who settled the bill yesterday at the Cascade hotel. It was reported however, that before the bill was settled, the hotel manager claimed that the hotel staff was verbally abused. The man insisted that he pay the local equivalent of the bill which his daughter had run up. However the manager of the hotel explained to the man that his daughter had registered as a US citizen, and was charged accordingly.

Following the settlement of the bill, investigations were still continuing into what police have deemed a massive credit card fraud ring which seemed to be spareheaded by the young woman who is in her late 20s. Police became aware of the situation when the manager of the hotel in Cascade reported the woman for trying to use a credit card to pay a $10,000 bill. The woman had checked in at the hotel and had run up a bill of over $10,000 in food, drinks, accommodation and phone use. Upon attempting to check out of the hotel on Tuesday, the young woman attempted to pay the bill with a credit card. Suspicious hotel officials asked for a form of identification which the woman was unable to provide. The managers of the hotel, upon checking the credit card number given by the young woman, realised that the credit card did not belong to her.

Police were subsequently called in and the woman was taken to the Belmont Police Station where she was interrogated. Investigations have so far revealed that the woman had stayed at a number of  hotels in North Trinidad and has also purchased a car with a stolen credit card. According to reports, the young woman stayed at a hotel in Maraval where she ran up an $11,000 bill. When asked to pay off some of the bill, the young woman is said to have given several credit card  numbers, none of which belonged to her. Sources said the young woman even proceeded to use the Internet to access other credit card numbers. The credit cards used by the young woman, when traced, belonged to persons from Europe, Canada and the USA.

When questioned by police about her address, the young woman gave officers of the Belmont Police Station various addresses in Canada and the USA. However, she insisted that she was not a Trinidadian, and spoke with an American accent. Investigations have led police to believe, that the woman is in fact a US citizen living in Canada, and that her father is a local school principal. When contacted by police on Tuesday, the girl’s father said he was not aware that his daughter was in the country and said that she was abroad. However the police informed him of the situation, and the girl’s father went to the Belmont Police Station, where she was released into his custody at 2 am yesterday. Contacted yesterday for an update on the investigations, officers at the Belmont Police Station declined to say if any documents were taken to the Fraud Squad. However officials of the hotels involved in the scam have stated that they will not let the matter rest.