The owner of the swanky Le Parker Meridien New York ripped off more than $1 million by cooking the books to claim fraudulent reimbursements from Starwood Hotels & Resorts, a suit filed yesterday alleges.
Workers at the Meridien “falsified records and fabricated room reservations for fictitious guests” in order to boost payments from the customer loyalty program of Starwood, the suit alleges.
The scheme allegedly went on for more than three years at both the Midtown Meridien and the Parker Palm Springs in California, and was directed by “executive management.”
“Indeed, Parker would likely still be stealing from Starwood had not its own former employees reported, and a former senior manager confessed, the wrongdoing to Starwood,” the suit says.
The Manhattan federal court filing seeks unspecified damages.
Starwood also wants a court order canceling licensing agreements to run the hotels under its “premier, internationally renowned Le Meridien brand.”
According to the suit, the Parker hotels joined Starwood’s customer-loyalty program in 2008 to bolster revenues after the economy tanked.
Under the program, Starwood guests can redeem accumulated points for stays paid for by Starwood, at rates dependent on the hotel’s occupancy.
A spokeswoman for the Parker hotels didn’t return a request for comment.