Conman who duped 300 luxury hotels held after 36 years
A 69-year-old man from Tamil Nadu, identified as Bingson John, has been arrested in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, ending what police describe as one of India’s longest-running hotel fraud operations. According to Raipur Police, he targeted more than 300 luxury hotels across the country since around 1990, spanning 36 years.
The latest complaint came from the Hyatt Hotel in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. John allegedly checked in on June 25, 2026, used the five-star facilities, and left on the morning of June 27 without settling his bill of Rs 63,755. He also took a laptop worth around Rs 1.48 lakh that the hotel had provided. The stolen laptop was later recovered from him.
His modus operandi involved charm and false identities. During interrogation, he reportedly told investigators that he drew inspiration from Charles Sobhraj, the French-Vietnamese serial killer and conman known as “The Serpent.” Like Sobhraj, who used fake identities and deception in luxury hotels across Asia in the 1970s. John allegedly used similar tactics, but focused on financial fraud rather than violence. He often posed as a foreign tour guide, an English teacher and a yoga instructor. These respectable personas helped him build instant trust with hotel staff. He would check into premium properties, avail room service, spa treatments, and other luxuries, then vanish without paying, sometimes stealing small valuables on the way out.
John is no stranger to the law. Raipur Police claim criminal cases against him exist in more than 10 states, including several major metropolitan cities. He was found to have spent over 15 years in various prisons, including Tihar Jail in Delhi, where he allegedly came into contact with other notorious criminals, without paying or properly checking out on the morning of June 27.
The arrest followed a complaint from the Hyatt Hotel. After that complaint, Raipur’s Anti-Crime and Cyber Unit, along with the staff of Telibandha Police Station, used technical analysis of documents and mobile numbers to track him to Bhubaneswar. He was apprehended there by Raipur Police in coordination with local authorities in Odisha. A case has been registered under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Telibandha Police Station. Further investigation is ongoing to verify the full scale of his alleged crimes and link him to other pending cases.
This case highlights vulnerabilities in the hospitality sector, where trust-based check-ins and the desire to provide excellent service can sometimes be exploited. It also shows how digital footprints, including mobile numbers and documents, can help identify even experienced offenders which remains in custody as police piece together the decades-long trail of unpaid luxury bills and alleged thefts.
Whether his Sobhraj-inspired methods will land him behind bars for the rest of his life remains to be seen, but his long run of luxury on someone else’s tab has finally come to an end. This reads like a real-life crime story: one man, one shrewd conman, decades of luxury living, and an ending shaped by modern policing.
