5-star heist: How a 69-year-old lived at over 300 luxury hotels but never paid the bill

Bingson John, a resident of Tamil Nadu, was the perfect hotel guest — he was well spoken and polite. But there was one big catch; he left without paying the hotel charges. And this isn’t a one-off. According to the police, John has cheated over 300 upscale hotels by slipping away without paying bills for the past 30 years.

Last week, the 69-year-old was arrested by the Raipur Police for slipping away from a hotel after racking up a bill of Rs 63,755. Additionally, he also stole a laptop worth around Rs 1.48 lakh.

So, who is John? And why is he the guest who never pays for a hotel?

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Bingson John, the serial offender

Now aged 69, John was born in Thoothukudi district in Tamil Nadu. He studied in an English-medium school and in the 1980s worked as a tourist guide in Delhi. During this period, he stayed in hotels and became familiar with several such establishments across the country.

Since then, he began to live in hotels but slip away when it came time to pay the bill. In fact, he was booked and arrested by the Delhi Police for the first time in 1996 and sent to Tihar jail.

On his release from Tihar, instead of reforming, he continued to cheat hotels by not settling his dues. As a result, he has cases in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Jharkhand, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, the Union Territory of Delhi, and Chhattisgarh.

Records show that he was arrested in Delhi in 2016 for failing to clear bills of Rs 50,000 and for stealing a laptop at the Radisson, and another in Kochi for cheating Le Meridien. In December 2020, John was arrested based on a complaint by Tunga Hotel, Vashi in Mumbai after he stayed in a suite for two days. During his stay there, John ordered expensive liquor and cigarettes through room service. Moreover, he even booked the hotel’s banquet room, along with the catering service.

In 2022, he was arrested by the police near Kollam Railway Station in Kerala after a five-star hotel in Thiruvananthapuram complained that the man had stayed there but left without paying his bill.

John’s latest hotel run

Last week, the Raipur Police arrested John from Bhubaneswar, Odisha, based on a complaint filed by the Hyatt Hotel in Raipur. According to the investigators, the 69-year-old checked into the swanky hotel on June 25, posing as an event organiser.

A police official was quoted as telling The Indian Express, “He is fluent in speaking English. He also sweet-talked one of the staffers into giving him a laptop. He told the staffer he had good contacts in the hotel industry and would get him a better job.”

Furthermore, he ordered foreign-made cigarettes and an expensive bottle of liquor. After staying for two days, John went to the reception and said he wanted to book another room for his son, who would be coming the next morning.

On the morning of June 27, John quietly slipped out of the hotel. CCTV visuals show him walking out with two bags, one in his hand and the other slung over his shoulder. Following this, the Anti-Crime and Cyber Unit and Telibandha police launched an investigation. They analysed John’s mobile phone records, documents, and other technical evidence before tracing his location to Bhubaneswar in Odisha.

John’s motive and modus operandi

But why did John choose a life of crime? There’s a personal angle to it. According to a confession he made to the police, his turn to crime occurred after a personal tragedy; he abandoned plans to marry altogether after the death of his fiancée, and this led him into the world of crime.

And why does he target hotels? A police official who arrested John in the past revealed that he had once had an argument with the owner of a hotel over non-payment of commission. From then on, he decided to target expensive hotels.

John told investigators that he drew inspiration from French serial killer Charles Sobhraj. File image/AFP

He also told cops that he drew inspiration from serial killer Charles Sobhraj. In fact, John adopted multiple identities just as Sobhraj did. According to investigators, John travels to a new city and checks into luxurious hotels using fake identities. He has posed as a foreign tourist guide, an English teacher, or a yoga trainer to dupe the hotel authorities.

Moreover, he always behaves like a respectable guest and impresses the staff with his kind manners.

An officer told The Indian Express, “John would never allow the hotel staff to carry his luggage. To evade suspicion, he often left one bag — the one with the newspapers — in the hotel so people wouldn’t think he was leaving. He would always smuggle out expensive liquor, cigarettes, or valuables like laptops, selling them later.”

Authorities add that John has always used his age as an advantage. “When we questioned him, he looked apologetic and promised this was his last time. He said he had 10 acres of ancestral land, and that he planned to settle in an old-age home in Goa,” City Superintendent of Police (CSP) Ramakant Sahu said. “It’s a story he had already told other police departments before,” the officer added. “I don’t believe him.”

For now, John has been booked, and investigations continue. But will it stop him from duping hotels in the future?

With inputs from agencies