Fraudster ran up £1000 bill at top hotels

Published on Tuesday 28 October 2008 08:56

A PENNILESS analyst who ran up bills of over £1000 with five-star hotels in Edinburgh said he had done so because he wanted to live "a bit of the high life".

Pampreet Singh Pooni, 38, boasted of owning flash cars and drank champagne while socialising with high-flying guests in the city's exclusive Rutland Hotel and the Apex International Hotel Edinburgh.

The trickster – a graduate of Stamford University – even bought the other guests drinks in the hotel bars charging each one to his room.

But he couldn't even afford his board, and adding on the charges for drinks, skipped bills for over 1000.

He was later caught by police, and at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today admitted two charges of taking lodgings with no intention of paying for them.

The court heard how Pooni lost everything when the company he worked for went bust in 2001, and he was jailed earlier this year for a mobile phone scam.

He was released on licence in August, with 224 days left of his sentence to go. After he got out, he had nowhere to go and came up with his latest scam to stay free at Edinburgh's top hotels.

Fiscal depute Aidan Higgins told the court how Pooni checked into The Rutland Hotel in Rutland Street on August 26 using a credit card.

Despite staying just two days he ran up a 560 bill before disappearing without settling up on his bill.

And when staff tried to charge the card he had supplied to guarantee the room they found it was not authorised for the payment.

Just a week later he checked into The Apex International Hotel in the Grassmarket Area of the capital, this time through a third party.

Again he disappeared after just two days, this time racking up 463 worth of bills before scarpering.

His lawyer, Roy Harley, said Pooni was keen to pay back the money and he had plans to set-up his own brokering company.

Mr Harley said: "He worked as an analyst for a company and had a very high level of income but the company crashed in 2001 and he was left with nothing.

"Prior to his release from prison he asked for help for accommodation but was told that they could not help him because he had not been staying in Scotland.

"He had lived a low life in prison and had a bit of a high life after he left."

Mr Harley said his client had a "high level of education" including a degree from California University and a masters from Stamford.

He added that despite warnings the charges may prevent Pooni from setting up a finance business, his client was determined to do so upon release from jail.

Pooni was ordered to serve 224 days of his original sentence before beginning a six month period in jail for the new offences.